What is Calculator: Definition and 515 Discussions

An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics.
The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized devices became available in the 1970s, especially after the Intel 4004, the first microprocessor, was developed by Intel for the Japanese calculator company Busicom. They later became used commonly within the petroleum industry (oil and gas).
Modern electronic calculators vary from cheap, give-away, credit-card-sized models to sturdy desktop models with built-in printers. They became popular in the mid-1970s as the incorporation of integrated circuits reduced their size and cost. By the end of that decade, prices had dropped to the point where a basic calculator was affordable to most and they became common in schools.
Computer operating systems as far back as early Unix have included interactive calculator programs such as dc and hoc, and calculator functions are included in almost all personal digital assistant (PDA) type devices, the exceptions being a few dedicated address book and dictionary devices.
In addition to general purpose calculators, there are those designed for specific markets. For example, there are scientific calculators which include trigonometric and statistical calculations. Some calculators even have the ability to do computer algebra. Graphing calculators can be used to graph functions defined on the real line, or higher-dimensional Euclidean space. As of 2016, basic calculators cost little, but scientific and graphing models tend to cost more.
In 1986, calculators still represented an estimated 41% of the world's general-purpose hardware capacity to compute information. By 2007, this had diminished to less than 0.05%.

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  1. nomadreid

    Enabling the Combinations Calculator in Alexa?

    On https://www.amazon.com/worldengine-Combinations-Calculator/dp/B01GSTMZ4U?tag=pfamazon01-20 I found the command as indicated in the Summary. The Alexa in question (of a student of mine -- I am not very familiar with Alexa) would answer other calculation questions, but not this one. Is this an...
  2. G

    Can a human calculate this without a calculator?

    my notebook says that we can rewrite the integral $$\int {75\sin^3⁡(x) \cos^2⁡(x)dx}$$ as $$\int {75 \cos^2(x)\sin(x)dx} - \int {75\sin(x)\cos^4(x)dx}$$ however, i have literally no idea how it got to this point, and i unfortunately can't really provide an "attempt at a solution" for this...
  3. DaveC426913

    Online graphing calculator for dosages?

    I've become fascinated with how repeat doses of medications affect the body's level of the drugs (see sample diagram). Is there some sort of online software grapher that takes params such as half-life and plots a graph? I guess this is exactly what Wolphram Alpha does isn't it? I tried it once...
  4. Jorrie

    I LightCone Calculator Improvements

    Re: "A glitch in Jorrie's Cosmo-Calculator" LightCone8 has just been released with a number of glitch-fixes. We now have a core team looking after it, namely: @Jorrie , @pmbuk and @JimJCW. Here is the last post from the referenced thread. Could be nice to have for model comparison, but we know...
  5. H

    B Looking for free graphing calculator for two-variable inequality

    I have a two-variable inequality and wish to make a graph of the regions in which it is satisfied. Is any such took available online for free? A great many free online graphing calculators are available, but I expect the great majority won't do what I want. Specifically I want to find the...
  6. A

    Use of calculator (significant figures mode)

    Hello, it may be a little bizarre but I've a question: is there a significant figures mode on AUKORZ AK-991EX calculator? Or in a general CASIO fx-991EX?
  7. benagastov

    Finding all possible energy states faster without using a calculator

    I tried to find states in direct method using ##\frac{E}{E_0}=\:nx^2+ny^2+nz^2## and ##100\:<nx^2+ny^2+nz^2\:<\:136## But it was too long, found it using phi approximation there are around 300 energy states, and Python find around 271 states using direct method but I need manual or recursive...
  8. jedishrfu

    The History of the Curta Calculator

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/the-remarkable-history-of-the-hand-cranked-curta-mechanical-calculator/
  9. patric44

    Other Using Calculator photos in my article?

    hi guys I am trying to publish a paper and finally it got a moderate revision, but there is a little problem : after submitting the revisions which wasn't much, I received an email from the publisher saying "We notice that you may have used previously published material in your article" , the...
  10. V

    B Determine a fractional square root without calculator

    I have to solve a certain numerical problem without using calculator and furthermore, there is a time limit for solving this problem. The answer I have got so far is ## \sqrt{\frac{100}{99}}## I know I can reduce the numerator to 10 but then I am stuck with square root of denominator which is...
  11. Bandersnatch

    A Distances between observers using the Lightone7 calculator

    (you have your nows and thens mixed around) You can obtain those values from the calculator, I think, but not directly. Since these are still points on the same lightcone, all it takes is to call the outputs for the desired redshifts, like so: Then deduct the corresponding distances and...
  12. A

    TI-83+ Graphing Calculator giving wrong answer? (Complex numbers)

    I think the solution should be: METHOD #1: \begin{align} (\sqrt[4] {-1})^4 & = (-1)^{\frac 4 4} \nonumber \\ & = (-1)^1 \text{, can reduce 4/4 since base is a constant and not a variable in ℝ} \nonumber \\ & = -1 \nonumber \end{align} Alternatively, METHOD #2 for same answer is...
  13. mcastillo356

    Calculators How can I prove my calculator calculates a trigonometric function?

    Considering the measure of angles in radians, that are real numbers, the concept of of trigonometric function spreads to all real numbers. Any real number can be considered as an angle of the first circumference and a ##\mathbb{K}## number of circumferences. We can consider the function...
  14. mcastillo356

    Calculators Which steps with my calculator are needed to obtain result in radians?

    Hi PF, hope to be publishing in the right forum <moderator's note: moved to the right forum :smile:> ##\arccos{\dfrac{\sqrt{2}}{2}}\mbox{rad}=\dfrac{\pi}{4}\mbox{rad}## This is a trigonometric true, but I've read the steps in my guideline, and I don't manage. The calculator is a chinese...
  15. P

    I Troubleshooting Calculator Issues: Wolfram & Equation in Photo

    I have the problem with checking solution in calculators. For example wolfram doesn't give result of this equation. Have you any idea what is going on? Maybe should I simplyfy something. The equation is placed in photo.
  16. Svein

    Wanted: A calculator that can handle really big integers and fractions

    I am trying to get one step further with my search for \sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^{2s+1}} . Part of the way is to calculate some algebraic expressions containing fractions with really huge numbers (as in (\frac{1}{5^{9}}+\frac{1}{7^{9}}-\frac{1}{17^{9}}-\frac{1}{19^{9}})\div...
  17. chriscarson

    Calculator Question (Casio) -- How to disable "Shift 9 = AC"

    Anybody knows how to take this off because when I m doing for example 0.025 ÷ 2 = is showing the answer with a fraction.
  18. F

    What size flywheel do I need to produce 200kg torque or resist a force of 200kg?

    Hello, https://www.fxsolver.com/solve/ I am using this calculator to figure out how large/heavy a flywheel I need to produce torque of 200kg, or that could resist a force of 200kg applied to it. I am not proficient in mathematics, so my terms or what I'm asking might be not phrases correctly...
  19. GravitySK

    How do you sketch (x^2-5)^2+y^2=16 without a calculator or software?

    Someone told me to use parametric equations to find symmetries first but are there other methods to sketch this graph? How do you think
  20. GravitySK

    I How to plot (x^2-5)^2+y^2=16 without a calculator?

    How do you think?
  21. opus

    Using the Law of Sines - Getting a Domain Error on my Calculator

    So we'd like to find leg C. But we can't use Law of Cosines yet so we will use Law of Sines. We can easily find the length of A and this is ##\sqrt{13}##. With some geometry we can see that ##\angle a = 53.1##. We can now use Law of sines. $$\frac{\sin(a)}{A} = \frac{\sin(b)}{B}$$ We want to...
  22. V

    A derivative/limit calculator using python

    import math def derivative_quotient(f, a, h): return float((f(a + h) - f(a)) / h) if h==0: return "Division by zero is not allowed." Here is my code so far, I am unsure of where to go from here or if I am even on the right track. I am a little confused what it means by "where...
  23. M

    Engineering Building a Tilt Calculator for Packages on a Conveyor

    I am attempting to build a calculator that will calculate the tilt of a different shapes of packages traveling along a conveyor. the variables I am most interested in considering are: length, width and height of the package; speed of conveyor; radius and degree of turns. Can anyone provide me...
  24. S

    MHB DPS Calculator for Video Game

    I saw a post here about calculating damage per second (DPS) and tried to modify it to my need. https://mathhelpboards.com/pre-algebra-algebra-2/formula-calculating-dps-damage-per-second-18847.htmlis the original post. My attack power is 46722 and I make 2.15 attacks a second, that come to be a...
  25. X

    B Calculating trigonometry without calculator?

    Speaking of trigonometry without a calculator, I usually only memorizes the trig values of 30°, 45° and 60°. then by I can apply basic equations and applying to polygons or other geometry shapes I can get trig values for angles like 15° Or 75°. When people have enough time, people on Wikipedia...
  26. nuclearfireball_42

    Why light reflected off of my calculator screen turns bluish?

    So, I was in class listening to my lecturer when I notice something intriguing. I was looking at the reflection of a lamp on the screen of my calculator. I paid close attention to the colour of the light reflected of my calculator and realized that when I rotate my calculator by about 90 deg...
  27. YoungPhysicist

    Addiator: Short introduction about a calculator from the 60s

    Summary: A short introduction to a antique calculator that I recently got I first know about this thing when I was chatting with @jedishrfu a couple months ago, and I was fascinated by it. It functions like a soroban but looks way cooler and easier to carry around. Also, it is a important...
  28. F

    Making a calculator program that can calculate integer addition / subtraction

    im trying to complete mips program code about a calculator program that can calculate integer addition / subtraction written using the MIPS assembler. im having hard times to debug this. The input is given to the array of Formula char (base address $ s0) in the form of a formula. The null...
  29. cookiemnstr510510

    MATLAB MATLAB GUI derivative calculator

    Hello! Happy Sunday, I am trying to create a MATLAB GUI that can take an input ( i am starting out with just one variable) and take its derivative and display the result. I have attached pictures of what my GUI looks like, and also the code I wrote so far. Let me also describe my method: I have...
  30. M

    "Y plus" calculator value for a fuel bundle

    Hi everyone, I am using a online y plus calculator to work out the y plus value for a fuel bundle. http://www.pointwise.com/yplus/ In regards to the reference length, I have been told by peers to utilise the hydraulic diameter using 4A/P where A is the cross sectional area, and P is the wetted...
  31. J

    Calculator or not? (from the TV show Numb3rs)

    Greetings everyone, I thought this would be the place to pose this question. In the TV show Numb3rs Charlie plays with something I am not familiar with. Wooden base 4-5 wire half rounds with beads on each half round. Anyone know what this is? A calculator or toy?
  32. Freddythunder

    Current Surge Capacitor Calculator

    Hello friends... I'll jump right into the deal here.. I pranked a friend by putting a raspberry pi into a yoda head like the one on his desk. There's an intro video: and the prank itself: if you are intrigued. Everything in the head runs off 3 AAA batteries. 1 raspberry pi zero w, 1 small...
  33. icecat2005

    Calculators Showing Digit Separator in Casio fx-cg20/10

    I have been digging into the manual to figure out how to show digit separator (e.g 100,000). I do not seem to be able to find anything even though I have a vague memory that I have done it about a year ago. All I am managing to do is limit decimal places and show 100k instead of 100000. If...
  34. Arman777

    Simple Calculator: Solve Math Problems Easily

    # include <stdio.h> int main() { int n1,n2; char s; printf("Enter the first number:"); scanf("%d",&n1); printf("Enter the second number:"); scanf("%d",&n2); printf("Type the operation symbol that you want to do:"); scanf("%c",&s); printf("%c",s); if (s...
  35. G

    I Calculate Muon Energy Loss with Bethe-Bloch Calculator

    is anyone aware of a Bethe-Bloch calculator for the web? I have a plastic scintillator 1 in thick and am trying to estimate energy loss of cosmic ray produced muons. Thanks
  36. R

    Delta V Calculator: Launch in an Atmosphere & Orbit Dimensions

    So I am making a Delta V calculator. Here it is: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/hib7psndtb Anyone know how to figure out a rocket's Delta V if it launches from in an atmosphere? Also, if I messed up on anything (in the Delta V calculator or isp calculator), please let me know so I could...
  37. yecko

    Programs Graphical calculator for an ME major in the US?

    I am an Mechanical Engineering student, coming to US next semester as a year 3 exchange student. Is a graphical calculator is necessary to survive as a mechanical engineering student in US? I have no previous experience in graphical calculator (we are only allowed to use scientific calculator...
  38. J

    Looking for Ti Calculator Apps? Check out this website!

    Hey guys I was wondering if anyone knew of any good apps for the ti-nsipre calculator that was either a step by step solver or just a solver in general of problems like the one in the picture. I realize the picture is just setting up the expression but a solver for when there are actual values...
  39. barryj

    How to display a normal CDF graph on the TI-84 calculator

    I am not sure where to ask this question but I must try somewhere. 1. Homework Statement I am trying to graph a simple cdf on my ti-84 and I cannot get it to work. I need an example to follow Homework Equations See below. The Attempt at a Solution 2nd, dist, 2 enter -1E99,0 0,.5 [/B]I also...
  40. S

    BIDMAS Evaluating Expression Without Calculator

    Hi there, I'm hoping somebody can help me. I have to evaluate the following expression using BIDMAS rules without using a calculator: 1-2/32 I can get as far as 1-2/9 but the answer is 7/9. I don't understand how to get from 1-2/9 to 7/9 in my head. For instance 2/9 = 0.2 recurring, but...
  41. S

    I Should I get a new graphing calculator?

    So I have a TI-84 Plus Silver edition that I've had for 10 years. It's kind of beat up but it works perfectly fine. I know the model has been discontinued in favor of a newer one, and I've already encountered a feature it lacks due to its age (it was something in an introductory stats course, I...
  42. wirefree

    B Understanding the Differences in Arctan Values: A Scientific Perspective

    G'day! I am in need of a nudge. My basic math understanding is being called to question by the arctan function. Two values of arctan(-3) result: a) In my textbook: 108.43 degrees b) In my calculator: -71.56 degrees It's perplexing and my superior has not put in a kind word either. Would...
  43. lfdahl

    MHB Evaluate (without a calculator) the product: f(r1+1)⋅f(r2+1)⋅f(r3+1).

    Given the function: $$f(x) = x^3+20x-17.$$ Denote the roots of the function: $r_1,r_2$ and $r_3$. Evaluate (without a calculator) the product: $f(r_1+1) \cdot f(r_2+1) \cdot f(r_3+1)$.
  44. M

    MHB Finding Solutions for x^3 + (1/x^3) ≥ 3

    Section 2.6 Question 82 Solve: x^3 + (1/x^3) ≥ 3. (Use a calculator to approximate the key numbers.) I need someone to get me started.
  45. M

    Calculators RE- TI Nspire CX CAS vs Casio Classpad vs TI 89

    HI y'all! I was just told by my programming teacher that I need a new graphing calculator. She told me to decide between the TI 89, Casio Classpad fx-cp400 (or fx cp500) or the TI-Nspire CX C.A.S. I don't know if greyscale or color matters though in the long run. I am a programmer and need...
  46. L

    MHB Calculate Grades with iGrade Calculator

    Hello, I have a question. I have to create a calculator for grades. I need to make a menu and the student picks either the lab or the lecture which I didn't have a problem with. I also didn't have a problem with the set up of the questions or the average calculations. What I am stuck on is: I...
  47. D

    Other Plugging numbers into my calculator wrong

    I'm getting pretty discouraged because I'm a straight A engineering student, but this semester I'm getting bad grades because I'm plugging things into my calculator wrong. I study a ton, and I definitely know the material, I just plug things into my calculator wrong and get the wrong answer. In...
  48. epenguin

    I Free or cheap app for log plots

    Trying to complete some homework help I got a bit stuck on an elementary or common problem that was always a bit difficult. I have a function f(x) and just want to plot log f(x) against log x. This is common in chemistry and biochemistry. It should have been easy. :redface: I have picked up...
  49. S

    Looking for new HP calculator - 35S or 50g?

    OK, my trusty 25 year old 32S II is finally showing its age - a row of buttons on the right side of the keyboard seem to have some intermittent connectivity problem. So, I figure it is time to upgrade. I want RPN - algebraic entry is irrelevant to me. The choices seem to be either the 35S or...
  50. J

    B Does the human calculator stuff really work?

    I have seen books and videos that claim to teach you how to become a human calculator. does this stuff really work? if it does can you recommend a good book or video ?
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