Absolute Magnitudes for Cepheids

sailof

Would somebody help me in entering a calculation into my scientific calculator?
The equation is Mv = - [2.76 log10(P) – 1.0)] – 4.16
I have the value of P but I'm not sure how to enter this into the calculator. I get a different answer every time.
Thanks,

hage567

Can you tell us what P is, and some of the answers you are getting? Maybe we can spot what you're doing wrong. What did you get for the 2.76logP part?

sailof

I'm solving for absolute magnitudes for Cepheids. For my first Cepheid P is 50.0 and my first response was -9.34 but I think I forgot to enter the negative sign at the beginning of the equation.
thank you.