Scientific Calculator

How to use the Scientific Calculator

1. Choose DEG or RAD for angles. DEG is the default, so sin(30) is 0.5.
2. Type an expression with your keyboard or tap the keys, for example 2sin(30) + √(16). Brackets you leave open at the end are closed for you.
3. Press = or Enter to keep the answer. It is saved as Ans and added to your history for this visit.
4. Press 2nd for inverse functions and their partners: sin⁻¹, cos⁻¹, tan⁻¹, x³, ʸ√x, ∛, 10ˣ, eˣ and 1/x.
5. Use M+ and M− to add the current answer to memory or take it away, MR to insert the memory and MC to clear it.

Examples

• Order of operations: 2 + 3 × 4 = 14, because multiplication comes before addition. Use brackets for (2 + 3) × 4 = 20.
• The height of a ramp: a 5 m ramp at 12° rises 5sin(12) = 1.0396 m in DEG mode.
• An angle from a slope: a rise of 1 in 12 is tan⁻¹(1/12) = 4.7636°.
• Compound growth: 1,000 growing 5% a year for 10 years is 1000 × 1.05^10 = 1,628.894627.
• Logarithms: log(1000) = 3 and ln(e²) = 2. To find how many years it takes to double at 5%, use ln(2) ÷ ln(1.05) = 14.2067.
• Roots: √(144) = 12, ∛(-27) = -3 and the 4th root of 81 is 81^(1/4) = 3.
• Combinations: the ways to arrange 5 books on a shelf are 5! = 120.

How the calculator reads an expression

Operations are applied in this order, from first to last:

1. Brackets.
2. Functions such as sin, log and √, applied to the value in their brackets.
3. Factorial (n!).
4. Powers (^), worked from right to left: 2^3^2 = 2^9 = 512.
5. A leading minus sign, after the power: -2^2 = -4. Write (-2)^2 to square -2 and get 4.
6. Multiplication and division, from left to right. A number written next to a bracket, function or constant is multiplied: 2π, 3(4 + 1) and 2sin(30).
7. Addition and subtraction, from left to right.

Implicit multiplication has the same priority as × and ÷, so 1/2π is (1/2) × π. Use brackets, 1/(2π), when you mean one over two pi.

Degrees and radians

A full turn is 360 degrees or 2π radians, so 1 radian is about 57.3°. In DEG mode sin(30) = 0.5; in RAD mode sin(30) means 30 radians and gives -0.988. Inverse functions return their answer in the unit you have chosen. Exact angles such as sin(180°) and cos(90°) give exactly 0, and tan(90°) is reported as undefined.

Accuracy

Calculations use standard double-precision numbers, which hold about 15 to 17 significant digits. Answers are shown to 12 significant digits, which hides tiny rounding artefacts: 0.1 + 0.2 shows as 0.3.