Jump to content

Calculator tricks


Littlelostattimes

Recommended Posts

Hi there,

I was wondering if we could all make a post about the commands for calculators used for solving maths questions. Some of us might forget about them but I think making a generalized list for this would be great(?)

 

The list I had in mind would be like:

 

The calculator's model

 

The math topic

Commands to solve for the math equations related to the topic

 

Ex:

 

TI- nspire

 

Basic commands

1. Menu>>> 2. Number >>> 1. Convert number to decimals

 

Statistic and probability

1. Menu>>>>5. Probability >>>>1. Factorial (!)

 

These are more straight forward but there may be different ones that do not directly show that it is related to other topics

 

I'm not sure if this is useful but sometimes my maths teacher assumes that we know how to work our way with the calculator and there are also times when all of us struggled in class so this led me to think about starting a topic for this. I'm hope I wasn't bothering anyone :) I would be adding more commands as I learnt from my class if this is interesting. I just think that it would be great for me and others who will be taking the exams to look for the commands in one page for their calculators. Cheers! :D

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah definitely keep a small notebook for all the commands.
You should, for the core topics (I don't know if you are Studies, SL, HL, or Further), be able to do the following on your calculator if and when you learn these topics
- all distributions and combinatorics functions / producing Pascal's triangles
- finding mean, standard deviation, variance, range, sum of values^2, for individual data or grouped data; producing a graph 
- arithmetics with complex numbers in both rectangular and polar forms
- Derivatives and definite integrals from graphs and from direct input
- Graph analyses (find max/min, evaluate, graphing derivative functions, changing the zoom, setting bounds, zooming at a specific value)
- Change display (dashed, dotted, bolded, etc) for graphs so you can distinguish multiple graphs plotted together
- switch between radians and degrees
- Find (real) solutions to equation or system of equations (graphs; direct input; row reduced echelon forms for intersection of planes) 
- plot non-function relations, parametric curves, piecewise functions
- any additional requirements for paper 3, such as graphing sequences and series or more statistical analyses

 

Edited by kw0573
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah definitely keep a small notebook for all the commands.

You should, for the core topics (I don't know if you are Studies, SL, HL, or Further), be able to do the following on your calculator if and when you learn these topics

- all distributions and combinatorics functions / producing Pascal's triangles

- finding mean, standard deviation, variance, range, sum of values^2, for individual data or grouped data; producing a graph 

- arithmetics with complex numbers in both rectangular and polar forms

- Derivatives and definite integrals from graphs and from direct input

- Graph analyses (find max/min, evaluate, graphing derivative functions, changing the zoom, setting bounds, zooming at a specific value)

- Change display (dashed, dotted, bolded, etc) for graphs so you can distinguish multiple graphs plotted together

- switch between radians and degrees

- Find (real) solutions to equation or system of equations (graphs; direct input; row reduced echelon forms for intersection of planes) 

- plot non-function relations, parametric curves, piecewise functions

- any additional requirements for paper 3, such as graphing sequences and series or more statistical analyses

 

Yep that's why I wanted to post about it because I might not know more commands from my calculator. I'm really glad I posted about it, your list is awesome and detailed! I realized a few problems though, I really do not know when to switch between radian and degrees. The funny thing is when I asked my teacher said you just gotta know, if the answer looks weird then switch it around. Well that is confusing, luckily you reminded me how important it is, I hope someone could tell me that ^^. I'm gonna make a list for myself in my book now of the commands. I would love to share it with everyone when I found lots, it would be great to be helpful to people who struggle with calculator as much as I did. Thanks kw0573!!!! Btw, I'm doing maths HL and I'm kinda struggling with it but lately I'm improving in calculus too! So I'm gonna work hard on mastering the calculator for paper 2 and 3 ^_^

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Yeah definitely keep a small notebook for all the commands.

You should, for the core topics (I don't know if you are Studies, SL, HL, or Further), be able to do the following on your calculator if and when you learn these topics

- all distributions and combinatorics functions / producing Pascal's triangles

- finding mean, standard deviation, variance, range, sum of values^2, for individual data or grouped data; producing a graph 

- arithmetics with complex numbers in both rectangular and polar forms

- Derivatives and definite integrals from graphs and from direct input

- Graph analyses (find max/min, evaluate, graphing derivative functions, changing the zoom, setting bounds, zooming at a specific value)

- Change display (dashed, dotted, bolded, etc) for graphs so you can distinguish multiple graphs plotted together

- switch between radians and degrees

- Find (real) solutions to equation or system of equations (graphs; direct input; row reduced echelon forms for intersection of planes) 

- plot non-function relations, parametric curves, piecewise functions

- any additional requirements for paper 3, such as graphing sequences and series or more statistical analyses

 

Yep that's why I wanted to post about it because I might not know more commands from my calculator. I'm really glad I posted about it, your list is awesome and detailed! I realized a few problems though, I really do not know when to switch between radian and degrees. The funny thing is when I asked my teacher said you just gotta know, if the answer looks weird then switch it around. Well that is confusing, luckily you reminded me how important it is, I hope someone could tell me that ^^. I'm gonna make a list for myself in my book now of the commands. I would love to share it with everyone when I found lots, it would be great to be helpful to people who struggle with calculator as much as I did. Thanks kw0573!!!! Btw, I'm doing maths HL and I'm kinda struggling with it but lately I'm improving in calculus too! So I'm gonna work hard on mastering the calculator for paper 2 and 3 ^_^

 

glad you found that helpful :P

typically unless the question uses degrees, you would use radians by default. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...