How To Use A Scientific Calculator Calculator
A scientific calculator is only as reliable as the assumptions you make about it. Precedence and angle units cause more wrong answers than the arithmetic does.
Result
14
The angle unit is currently degrees. sin(90) is 1 in degrees and 0.894 in radians.
History
Press = or Enter to add the current result to the history.
Supports + − × ÷ ^ ! % ² ³, brackets, sin/cos/tan/asin/acos/atan, ln/log/log2/ sqrt/cbrt/abs/exp and the constants pi, e and tau. Powers bind to the right, so 2^3^2 = 512.
The formula this calculator uses
brackets first, then powers, then multiply and divide, then add and subtract
- DEG
- Angle unit where a full turn is 360
- RAD
- Angle unit where a full turn is 2 pi
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Check the angle unit before anything else
The mode is a setting rather than part of the expression, so nothing in the number tells you which convention is live. Set degrees or radians before typing any trigonometric function.
- 2
Type the expression the way it is written
The parser applies standard precedence, so a bare expression needs no extra brackets. Add brackets only when you want to force a grouping that precedence would not give you.
- 3
Use powers with care
Powers bind to the right, so 2^3^2 is 512 rather than 64. A negative base that needs squaring has to be bracketed, because -3^2 is -9 and (-3)^2 is 9.
- 4
Read the result and the error together
A well formed expression shows its value, and a malformed one shows a message explaining where it stopped. An empty expression, a dangling operator and an unclosed bracket all produce distinct messages.
- 5
Store a result in the history
Pressing equals or the enter key puts the current expression and its value into the history, which is the quickest way to keep a few intermediate values without retyping them.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Use A Scientific Calculator page.