scientific calculator

2009-09-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

A scientific calculator is a type of electronic calculator, usually but not always handheld, designed to calculate problems in science (especially physics), engineering, and mathematics. They have almost completely replaced slide rules 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In certain contexts such as higher education, scientific calculators have been superseded by graphing calculators, which offer a superset of scientific calculator functionality along with the ability to graph input data and write and store programs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.

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 for calculating large numbers
floating point arithmetic
logarithmic functions, using both base 10 and base e
trigonometry functions (some including hyperbolic trigonometry)
exponents and roots beyond the square root
quick access to constants such as pi and e

In addition, high-end scientific calculators will include such features as

hexadecimal, binary, and octal calculations, including basic Boolean math
complex numbers
fractions
statistics and probability calculations
programmability — see Programmable calculator
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 Instruments and Casio using dot matrix displays similar to those found on graphing calculators.

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 astronomy, physics, and chemistry.

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 tests 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.