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Liberty Bell
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Who uses scientific calculators, aside from students and teachers? Engineers and physicists, I suppose. Maybe mathematicians too.
"Who" as a class, or who personally?Liberty Bell said:Who uses scientific calculators, aside from students and teachers? Engineers and physicists, I suppose. Maybe mathematicians too.
I have several scientific calculators, one of which I use to reconcile my checking account each month. I use the calculator app on my desktop computer for most simple calculations. My cellphone, which I've had for about 15 years (really!) has a calculator on it, but I never use it. The only thing I use my phone for is to make calls, maybe five in a year. I only rarely even turn it on. If a device doesn't have a nice keyboard that I can use both hands on, it's not for me.mpresic said:I use a scientific calculator from time to time. Sometimes I do not want to have a laptop with MATLAB, or fortran, or C compiler on my lap. My phone does not give me the kind of positive key action my HP calculator does. A phone is just not as comfortable. In addition, when you use a calculator some years, you know where all the keys are.
Liberty Bell said:Who uses scientific calculators, aside from students and teachers? Engineers and physicists, I suppose. Maybe mathematicians too.
CalcNerd said:but if I need to document my numbers, I crank out an Excel spreadsheet, often re-using an earlier one and modifying for the new project. My company doesn't have access to anything more sophisticated, although I do have my own, older copy of Mathcad for any serious report work.
jedishrfu said:Don't knock the slide rule! When your batteries fail and you're out in the wilderness or on a deserted aisle who you going to call? Bill Murray?
The slide rule is an awesome invention right up there with the pencil. It works under extreme conditions with few moving parts and no battery to overheat and catch fire automatically rounding to 3 significant figures or maybe 4 depending on how good your eyesight is.
jedishrfu said:Don't knock the slide rule! When your batteries fail and you're out in the wilderness or on a deserted aisle who you going to call? Bill Murray?
The slide rule is an awesome invention right up there with the pencil. It works under extreme conditions with few moving parts and no battery to overheat and catch fire automatically rounding to 3 significant figures or maybe 4 depending on how good your eyesight is.
mpresic said:Slide rules allow you to compare two scales in a way calculators do not. For example you can put 22 on the c-scale to 15 on the d-scale. You can then compare feet per second on the c-scale to miles per hour on the d-scale. I think that seeing things in this manner may enhance thinking "holistically". You see relationships "all at once". It can never hurt to experience all different manners of thinking.
dkotschessaa said:Yeah, this is kind of what I was thinking. I believe that mechanical devices like slide rules and abucuses (abaci? I don't know the plural) can really help mathematical intuition.
-Dave K
dkotschessaa said:I believe that mechanical devices like slide rules and abucuses (abaci? I don't know the plural) can really help mathematical intuition.
In 1987 I was given a similarly equipped Canon F-44 Scientific Calculator and used it for work and uni up until 1996. I have never replaced the battery as it has only been used once a year or so at most in the past 20 years. Just the fact that it still works is pretty amazing.symbolipoint said:I kept a scientific calculator in my pocket all the time several years after earning my undergraduate degree and often used it in the workplace. LCD display, most of the basic functions: log, ln, sin, cos, tan, x^2,square root, 10^x, e, pi, and an inverse key. Battery only needed changing every 2 or 3 years.
The struggle between the old and new number systems went on for a very long time—well over two centuries. And, in fact, open competitions were held between abacists (people who used mechanical tools to do arithmetic) and algorists (people who used the new algorithmic methods). So Feynman and the abacus salesman were re-fighting a very old duel!
We know how battle ended. Nowadays, everyone in Western society uses decimal numbers. Grade school students learn the algorithms for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. So clearly, the algorists won. But Feynman’s story shows that the reasons may not be as simple as you think. On some problems, the abacists were undoubtedly faster. Remember that the abacus salesman “beat him hollow” at addition. But the decimal system provides a deeper insight into numbers than a mechanical device does. So the harder the problem, the better the algorist will perform. As science progressed during the Renaissance, mathematicians would need to perform even more sophisticated calculations than cube roots. Thus, the algorists won for two reasons: at the high end, the decimal system was more compatible with advanced mathematics; while at the low end, the decimal system empowered everyone to do arithmetic.
Liberty Bell said:I didn't know Excel was used for engineering, interesting.
Yes, abaci is the correct plural, which I believe is pronounced ab' a see.dkotschessaa said:Yeah, this is kind of what I was thinking. I believe that mechanical devices like slide rules and abucuses (abaci? I don't know the plural) can really help mathematical intuition.
Mark44 said:Yes, abaci is the correct plural, which I believe is pronounced ab' a see.
Working with a slide rule can help with mathematical intuition because you have to figure out the correct power of ten for many calculations, such as 432 x 363. The way it works is that you put the 1 marker on the C scale on, say, 4.32 on the D scale, and then slide the cursor to 3.63 on the C scale.(In doing this I actually had to put the 1 marker at the right end of the C scale on 4.32). On the D scale, the cursor shows a little shy of 1.57. Since 432 is really 4.32 X 102 and 363 is really 3.63 X 102, my slide rule answer is 15.7 X 104, or 1.57 X 105. This isn't too far from the exact answer, 156,816.
How a slide rule works for multiplication can give one a good insight to logarithms, as many of the scales are laid out logarithmically. The 1 on the left end of the C and D scales represents 0 (the log10 1 is 0). The 1 on the right end of these scales represents 10 (whose log is 1). The 2 on these scales is placed about .3010 of the way between the two ends, and 3 is placed about .4771 of the way.
When you multiply 2 and 3, you are really adding the logs of these numbers, and getting the log (base 10) of the answer. For example, placing the left-end 1 of the C scale on the 3 of the D scale, and then moving the cursor to the 2 on the C scale lines up with the 6 marker on the D scale. In effect you are doing this addition: ##\log 3 + \log 2 = \log(3 \cdot 2) = \log 6##.
Division is just the opposite; instead of adding the lengths (adding the logs), you subtract the lengths.To calculate 3/2, put the 3 on the C scale above the 2 on the D scale, and read the answer on the D scale under the 1 on the C scale. You are effectively subtracting the length of 2 (on the C scale) from the length of 3 (on the D scale) to get the quotient, keeping in mind that what I'm referring to as "lengths" are really logarithms in base-10.
I have four of them: a very cheap plastic one with scales on only one side and blank on the other; a plastic one that must have been a bit more expensive, with scales on both sides; an inexpensive aluminum one with scales on one side and fraction-to-decimal conversions and other stuff on the other side; a very nice bamboo slide rule with a leather case and a magnifying lens, and scales on both sides. This last one belonged to my wife's father. He must have gotten it back in the '30s or so.dkotschessaa said:Thanks for this. When I get a moment I'm going to mess with the one I have.
dkotschessaa said:I inherited one from my dad and I really want to learn how to use it. I always thought it would help me intuitively understand logarithms a bit more.
-Dave K
Scientific calculators are commonly used by students, scientists, engineers, and other professionals who need to perform complex calculations and functions.
Scientific calculators offer a wide range of functions and capabilities, including trigonometric, logarithmic, and statistical calculations. They also have the ability to store and recall previous calculations, making them useful for solving complex problems.
Yes, many standardized exams allow the use of scientific calculators, as they are considered essential tools for solving advanced math and science problems.
It depends on your profession and daily tasks. If you work in a field that requires complex calculations, a scientific calculator may be beneficial. However, for basic math and everyday tasks, a regular calculator or calculator app on a smartphone may suffice.
When choosing a scientific calculator, consider the functions and capabilities that you will need for your specific tasks. Also, make sure to check the calculator's display and user interface to ensure it is user-friendly and easy to use.