A
scientific calculator is a type of
electronicElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
calculatorA calculator is a device that is used for performing mathematical calculations. It differs from a computer by having a limited problem solving ability and an interface optimized for interactive calculation rather than programming...
, usually but not always handheld, designed to calculate problems in science (especially
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
),
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
, and
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
. They have almost completely replaced
slide ruleThe slide rule, also known colloquially as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for "scientific" functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction.Slide...
s in almost all traditional applications, and are widely used in both education and professional settings.
In certain contexts such as higher education, scientific calculators have been superseded by
graphing calculatorA graphing calculator typically refers to a class of handheld calculators that are capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing numerous other tasks with variables. Most popular graphing calculators are also programmable, allowing the user to create customized...
s, which offer a superset of scientific calculator functionality along with the ability to graph input data and write and store programs for the device.
A
scientific calculator is a type of
electronicElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
calculatorA calculator is a device that is used for performing mathematical calculations. It differs from a computer by having a limited problem solving ability and an interface optimized for interactive calculation rather than programming...
, usually but not always handheld, designed to calculate problems in science (especially
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
),
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
, and
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
. They have almost completely replaced
slide ruleThe slide rule, also known colloquially as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for "scientific" functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction.Slide...
s in almost all traditional applications, and are widely used in both education and professional settings.
In certain contexts such as higher education, scientific calculators have been superseded by
graphing calculatorA graphing calculator typically refers to a class of handheld calculators that are capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing numerous other tasks with variables. Most popular graphing calculators are also programmable, allowing the user to create customized...
s, which offer a superset of scientific calculator functionality along with the ability to graph input data and write and store programs for the device. There is also some overlap with the financial calculator market.
Functions
Modern scientific calculators generally have many more features than a standard four or five-function calculator, and the feature set differs between manufacturers and models; however, the defining features of a scientific calculator include:
- Scientific notation
Scientific notation, also known as standard form or as exponential notation, is a way of writing numbers that accommodates values too large or small to be conveniently written in standard decimal notation...
for calculating large numbers
- floating point
In computing, floating point describes a system for numerical representation in which a string of digits represents a rational number....
arithmetic
- logarithm
In mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce the number....
ic functions, using both base 10 and base eThe mathematical constant e is the unique real number such that the value of the derivative of the function f = e
x at the point x = 0 is exactly 1. The function e
x so defined is called the exponential function, and its inverse is the natural logarithm, or logarithm...
- trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with triangles, particularly those plane triangles in which one angle has 90 degrees...
functions (some including hyperbolic trigonometryIn mathematics, hyperbolic trigonometry can mean:*The use of the hyperbolic functions*The use of gyrotrigonometry in hyperbolic geometry...
)
- exponents and root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s beyond the square rootIn mathematics, a square root of a number x is a number r such that r
2 = x, or, in other words, a number r whose square is x....
- quick access to constants such as pi
Pi or π is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius. The symbol π was first proposed by the Welsh mathematician William Jones in 1706...
and eThe mathematical constant e is the unique real number such that the value of the derivative of the function f = e
x at the point x = 0 is exactly 1. The function e
x so defined is called the exponential function, and its inverse is the natural logarithm, or logarithm...
In addition, high-end scientific calculators will include such features as
- hexadecimal
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen.Its primary use is as a...
, binaryThe binary numeral system, or base-2 number system represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2...
, and octalThe octal numeral system, or oct for short, is the base-8 number system, and uses the digits 0 to 7. Numerals can be made from binary numerals by grouping consecutive binary digits into groups of three...
calculations, including basic BooleanBoolean , as a noun or an adjective, may refer to:* Boolean algebra , a logical calculus of truth values or set membership* Boolean algebra , a set with operations resembling logical ones...
math
- complex number
A complex number, in mathematics, is a number comprising a real number and an imaginary number; it can be written in the form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers, and i is the standard imaginary unit, having the property that i
2 = −1...
s
- fraction
In common usage a fraction is any part of a unit.Fraction may also mean:*Fraction , a quotient of numbers, e.g. "¾"; or, more generally, an element of a quotient field...
s
- statistics
Statistics is a branch of mathematics concerned with collecting and interpreting data. According to other definitions, it is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data. Statisticians improve the quality of data with the...
and probabilityProbability is a way of expressing knowledge or belief that an event will occur or has occurred. In mathematics the concept has been given an exact meaning in probability theory, that is used extensively in such areas of study as mathematics, statistics, finance, gambling, science, and philosophy...
calculations
- programmability — see Programmable calculator
Programmable calculators are calculators capable of being programmed much like a computer.Since the early 1990s, most of these flexible handheld units belong to the class of graphing calculators...
- equation solving
While most scientific models have traditionally used a single-line display similar to traditional pocket calculators, many of them have at the very least more digits (10 to 12), sometimes with extra digits for the floating point exponent. A few have multi-line displays, with some recent models from
Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the top supplier...
and
Casiois a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches...
using
dot matrixA dot matrix is a 2-dimensional array of dots used to represent characters, symbols and images.Typically the dot matrix is used in older computer printers and many digital display devices. In printers, the dots are usually the darkened areas of the paper...
displays similar to those found on
graphing calculatorA graphing calculator typically refers to a class of handheld calculators that are capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing numerous other tasks with variables. Most popular graphing calculators are also programmable, allowing the user to create customized...
s.
Uses
Scientific calculators are used widely in any situation where quick access to certain mathematical functions is needed, especially those such as trigonometric functions that were once traditionally looked up in tables; they are also used in situations requiring back-of-the-envelope calculations of very large numbers, as in some aspects of
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
,
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
, and
chemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
.
They are very often required for math classes from the junior high school level through college, and are generally either permitted or required on many
standardized testA standardized test is a test administered and scored in a consistent manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.-Design...
s covering math and science subjects; as a result, many are sold into educational markets to cover this demand, and some high-end models include features making it easier to translate the problem on a textbook page into calculator input, from allowing explicit operator precedence using parentheses to providing a method for the user to enter an entire problem in as it is written on the page using simple formatting tools.
History
The first scientific calculator that included all of the basic features above was the programmable
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company , commonly referred to as HP, is a technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. HP has its United States offices at the former old Compaq Campus in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, Latin America offices in Miami-Dade County, Florida,...
HP-9100A, released in 1968, though the
WangWang Laboratories was a computer company founded in 1951 by Dr. An Wang and Dr. G. Y. Chu. The company was successively headquartered in Cambridge , Tewksbury , and finally in Lowell, Massachusetts . At its peak in the 1980s, Wang Laboratories had annual revenues of $3 billion and employed over...
LOCI-2 and the Mathatronics Mathatron had some features later identified with scientific calculator designs. The HP-9100 series was built entirely from discrete
transistorA transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's...
logic with no
integrated circuitIn electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s, and was one of the first uses of the
CORDICCORDIC is a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions...
algorithm for trigonometric computation in a personal computing device, as well as the first calculator based on
reverse Polish notationReverse Polish notation by analogy with the related Polish notation, a prefix notation introduced in 1920 by the Polish mathematician Jan Łukasiewicz, is a mathematical notation wherein every operator follows all of its operands...
entry. HP became closely identified with RPN calculators from then on, and even today some of their high-end calculators (particularly the long-lived HP-12C financial calculator and the HP-48 series of graphing calculators) still offer RPN as their default input mode due to having garnered a very large cult following.
Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the top supplier...
, after the introduction of several units with logarithm/exponent capability, came out with the first modern handheld scientific calculator in 1974 in the form of the SR-50. TI continues to be a major player in the calculator market, with their long-running
TI-30The TI-30 was a notable scientific calculator manufactured by Texas Instruments, the first of which was introduced in 1976. In the late 1970s it probably held half the market for scientific calculators owned by high school and college students...
series being one of the most widely used scientific calculators in classrooms.
Casiois a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches...
and
SharpSharp may refer to:*Sharp , a musical notation sign *Sharp , a flour made from hard wheat*Sharp *Sharp , a lunar impact crater*Sharp *A musical isomorphism, mapping covectors to vectors...
have also been major players, with Casio's FX series (beginning with the Casio FX-1 in 1972) being a very common mass-market brand used particularly in schools. Casio is also the #3 player in the
graphing calculatorA graphing calculator typically refers to a class of handheld calculators that are capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing numerous other tasks with variables. Most popular graphing calculators are also programmable, allowing the user to create customized...
market, having been the first company to ship one (
Casio fx-7000GThe Casio fx-7000G is notable for being the world's first graphing calculator.It came with 422 bytes of memory and it was possible to store up to ten programs in 10 program slots. 422 bytes is not much by today's standards but with its heavily tokenised programming language, programs performing...
), but has long been outstripped by TI and HP.
External links