Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Scientific Calculator

So there are many calculators out there, but I teach chemistry and there are certain things I tell my students to look for when they are getting a calculator.

1. a 2 line display so you can see the order of operations and have an easier time manipulating it with parentheses and such.
2. log and ln buttons so they can do problems that have to do with pH later in the year.
3. sin, cos, and tan so they can use the calculator for most of the math classes they will take.
4. a scientific notation button.  This looks like a x10^x, exp, or EE.  These are the most common ways that this appears.  This way I can have students easily put in numbers like 6.02 x 10^23 and use them in a calculation.

The scientific calculator from silentmatt.com fulfills all of my requirements.

When you open up the calculator if you click on the "Sidebar" option, the display is nice and simple.  you can then type in what you want and click on the necessary buttons.

If you have other requirements or other calculators that you have used that work, please let me know.


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