Calculators

Getting to Know Your Scientific Calculator

Your calculator may be different from the one pictured above; however it will have the same functions. Possibly the
functions will be positioned differently and possibly they will have a slightly different notation but the calculator
pictured is a good place to start!
An important button to note is the shift button (the top left button in the above picture), this button is like the shift key
on a keyboard in that it allows you to activate the secondary function of the other buttons. However, you don’t hold it
down (like you do on a keyboard), instead you just press it (a small s should appear on the screen) then press the desired
button. You may also have an alpha button, which activates a third function of the buttons. The relative functions are
colour coded.

FIRST STEPS

1) Make sure your calculator is, at this stage, in the normal computation mode:
a) Press the MODE key, you should see some options such as “COMP”, “STAT”, “VERIF”, and
“CMPLX” (for some models you may have to press more the once).
b) Select the number (usually 1) related to COMP.
c) If you find your calculator is giving strange results, or has a strange display, you may have accidently
left COMP mode and should repeat these steps.

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 2) Also at this stage, we will setup your preferences for how maths, angles, and numbers are displayed:
a) Press the SHIFT key then the MODE key to access the SETUP menu, a lot of options will appear
(some calculators access these options by pressing the mode key multiple times)
b) “MthIO” and “LineIO” allows you to change how maths objects (things such as fractions and roots)
are displayed. MathIO is the natural math mode and displays things just as you would write them on
paper, while LineIO displays everything in a single line. Selecting MathIO is recommended (you may
then be asked for “MathO” or “LineO”, select MathO)
c) The next three items are “Deg”, “Rad”, and “Gra”. These allow you to choose what units angles are
measured in: degrees, radians, or grads. If you are unsure what radians are, you should select degrees.
You can change your preference at any time, even in the middle of a calculation.
d) The last three items (at least on the first page) are “Fix”, “Sci”, “Norm”. These allow you to change
how numbers are displaced.
i. Fix: displays numbers with a fixed number of decimal places that you specify.
ii. Sci: displays numbers in scientific notation.
iii. Norm: displays numbers in the normal notation. Selecting this option is recommended, you
may then be asked for Norm 1 or Norm 2, select Norm 2 to avoid scientific notation for as
long as possible (Norm 1 uses scientific notation for numbers less than 0.01, that is it would
write 0.005 as 5 × 10−3 , while Norm 2 uses decimals until the numbers are smaller than
0.000000001).
3) Become familiar with the ordinary operators in maths:
a) Addition, +, Subtraction, −, Multiplication, ×, and Division, ÷.
b) Brackets/Parentheses, ( ), are also very useful.
c) The calculator recognises the conventional order of operations and so any straightforward calculation
may simply be typed in following the order from left to right, including brackets (do not press = until
the entire expression is entered).
d) If a negative number is needed, then use the (-) key. On some calculators, ÷ is represented by /.

Example
Calculate 5 + 3 × −2 − 4 ÷ 2
Type from left to right, pressing (-) then 2 for −2 and the calculator display should show exactly the calculation
above. Pressing the = key should give the result −3. (This is because the calculator does the multiplication and
division first, so it does 5 + −6 − 2, that is, it uses the conventional, correct, order). If brackets are inserted at all, the
calculation will be changed. There is no need to press = until all the full expression has been entered.
If you want to know more about the order of operations in mathematics, have a look at Calculations – Order of
Operations in Mathematics.

CLEARING AN ENTRY; CLEARING EVERYTHING

You wish to calculate 3 + 5 − 2 × 6. But, oops! You typed 3 + 5 + 2 × 6. You can easily correct the error without
having to retype the whole calculation:
• The Replay button (the large one in the middle) gives a cursor. Press the left side of Replay until the cursor
is immediately after the character you want to correct (this time it’s the second +).
• Press the DEL key and type the − . Press = and the correct answer is displayed (−4).
You can correct an entry as you go or after you have found an answer, as long as the calculation is still displayed. You
do not have to clear everything each time you operate the calculator. If you have obtained an answer from a calculation
by pressing = , then you can begin a new calculation straight away. However, if you do need to clear everything, press
AC .

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FIXED AND SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Fix refers to “fixing” the number of decimal places to which you would like a calculation to be accurate (“rounding”).
For example, you may do the calculation 9.61 × 5.83 but you only want two decimal places in your answer (you might
buy 9.61 kg of potatoes at $5.83 per kg).
a) Press SHIFT then Mode ( Mode repeatedly depending on calculator model) until the “Fix”, “Sci”, and
“Norm” options are reached.
b) Select Fix. It asks how many decimal places you require: in this case press 2.
c) Enter the calculation: instead of the answer 56.0263, you will see 56.03.
To return to the normal amount of decimal places, select Norm (see the First Steps section above).
Sci refers to scientific notation. This enables very large or very small numbers to be displayed using powers of 10. Sci
asks you to nominate the number of significant figures you wish displayed in your answer. (Significant figures are
different from decimal places. If you need further explanation, please refer to Ways of Writing Numbers – Scientific
Notation, Significant Figures, and Decimal Places.)
For example, calculate 6693.82 × 41365.3, giving your answer in scientific notation, correct to 3 significant figures.
(The answer in “normal” notation is 276 891 872.4 (quite a large number!).
a) Press SHIFT then Mode ( Mode repeatedly depending on calculator model) until the “Fix”, “Sci”, and
“Norm” options are reached.
b) Select Sci
c) Press 3 for the number of significant figures
d) Enter the calculation as usual, when you press = , the scientific notation for the answer is displayed: 2.77 ×
108 . There are 3 significant figures in this result (2, 7 and 7) and the power of 10 (8) tells us that the 2
represents two hundred million!
To return to the normal display, select Norm (see the First Steps section above).

FRACTIONS

This information is about the calculator entries required for calculating with fractions. If you need practice with fraction
calculations by hand, please refer to Fractions – 1. Manipulating Fractions.

The fraction key may look different on your calculator.

∎ 𝑏𝑏
On the Casio fx-82AU PLUS II it is: While on the Casio fx-100AU, it is: 𝑎𝑎
𝑐𝑐

3 ∎ ∎
To enter into the calculator, press: 3 4 or press the key and fill in the boxes.
4

3
Note that in inline mode is represented by 3⏌4.
4
∎
To enter a mixed number, press SHIFT then and fill in the boxes, or on earlier models press the fraction key
3
after each number, e.g. to enter 2 :
4

𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏
2 𝑎𝑎 3 𝑎𝑎 4
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐

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Example to try:
1 3 1
3 + ×4
2 4 5

Answer: 6
20
13

RAISING A NUMBER TO A POWER (FOR EXAMPLE, SQUARING)

Pressing a number followed by the 𝑥𝑥 2 button squares the number. For example 32 is found by entering 3 followed by
𝑥𝑥 2 . (Answer 9.)
To square a minus (negative) number, you MUST use brackets.
Example
To calculate the square of −3. You would use (−3)2 . The actual buttons to press would be: ( (-) 3 ) 𝑥𝑥 2 = . You
will never get a negative answer when you square a single positive or negative number. For further information, please
refer to Calculations – Order of Operations in Mathematics and Directed Numbers – Sorting the Positives From the
Negatives.
To raise numbers to powers other than 2, the button to use is written differently on various calculators. It could be 𝑥𝑥 𝑦𝑦 ,
𝑥𝑥 ∎ , or ^ (for example). For this resource, we will use 𝑥𝑥 ∎ .
An example might be:
24 + 32 − 53 .
This would be entered as:
2 𝑥𝑥 ∎ 4 + 3 𝑥𝑥 2 − 5 ^ 3 = ,
and the answer is – 100. Make sure you leave powers box by pressing right on the replay button after entering 4 if you
are in natural math mode.
You can also use 𝑥𝑥 ∎ (or its equivalent on your calculator) to do squaring.

CALCULATING A SQUARE ROOT

Most whole numbers do not have an exact whole number square root. So do not be surprised to see a large number of
decimal places for something that looks as simple as √5, for example. The square root is found using the √ key.
Find the square root of 5: press √ followed by 5 and get 2.2360 …. Some calculators require brackets for the
number and automatically insert the first bracket. You need to close the brackets by using the ) key. Some other
calculators will keep you under the square root sign until you tell it to leave by pressing right on the replay button.
Often you are asked to find the square root of a quite complex calculation. For example: √152 + 13.22 . Here you press
the √ first, then immediately the open bracket ( key. Press 1 5 , then 𝑥𝑥 2 followed by + then 1 3 . 2 then
𝑥𝑥 2 . Close the brackets with ) . Press = . Answer: 19.980 … (if you are in natural math mode you don’t need the
brackets, but there is no harm in having them!)
12.83 5.32
More complicated: � −
3 2

Answer: 26.173 …

STATISTICS MODE

If you decide to try STAT mode you will be given a range of statistics modes. “SD” or “1-VAR” gives calculations
such as mean, standard deviation, total scores, sums of squares. “Reg”, “A+BX”, “AX^B” and other such formulas
allow two variables to be entered at once and the coefficient of correlation, and the regression equation’s coefficients

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are calculated. It may be easiest to refer to your calculator booklet to find out the way to enter data and to calculate
these values.

LOGARITHMS

For further information about the meaning and uses of logarithms, please refer to Powers and Logarithms – 2.
Logarithms.
There are generally two logarithm keys on your scientific calculator. The first is obvious: log , but the second is not
quite so obvious: ln . This is actually the letters l and n (not “I” and n). Pressing log followed by a number will
calculate the logarithm to base 10, (log10 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛), and pressing ln followed by a number gives the logarithm to base
𝑒𝑒 (log 𝑒𝑒 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛). The context (or formulas) will tell you which one to use.

You will notice that there are still many buttons and functions that we have not explained in this resource. If you would
like further information or if this information did not cover anything you feel you require, the please make an
appointment with the Maths Support Lecturer, Learning Development, through reception on 02 4221 3977, or Level 2
(top floor), Building 11, or through your campus.

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