Modern calculators

Calculator

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An calculatoris a device for performing calculations. These days, most calculators incorporate general-purpose computing systems, but they're usually made to perform specific operations. For example graphing calculators are focused on graph-centered math such as trigonometry and statistics. Furthermore, modern calculators tend to be more portable than most computers even though some personal electronic aids (PDAs) are comparable in size to hand held calculators.

Since calculatorsare miniaturized, someday devices that are as small as credit cards might be able to perform the identical calculations as the current large scientific calculators. A different possibility of advancement is similar to a handheld computer, where the notations are not input by buttons, but written directly on screens. With this development, the requirement for buttons could be removed and the size of the device could be reduced further.

Overview

In the past, clerical tools made of mechanical such as abaci, comptometers, Napier's bones, mathematical books, table, slide rule, or mechanical addition machines were utilized for work with numerics. The term "calculator" denoted a person who did such work to earn a living by using these aids along with the pen or paper. This semi-manual process of calculation was tedious and prone to errors.

Modern calculators are powered by electricity and come in various dimensions and shapes, ranging from basic, free, credit-card-sized models to robust models with built-in printers.

Electronic calculators

In the past, calculators were nearly as big as today's computers. The first mechanical calculators were desktop computers, and were later replaced by electromechanical desktop calculators, eventually, electronic devices that utilized first thermionic valves, then transistors and finally, hard-wired circuit logic. Nowadays, the majority of calculators are handheld microelectronic devices.

Basic configuration

The complexity of calculators can vary with the intended purpose. A standard modern calculator may consist of the following parts:

• A source of power for example, a battery or solar panel, or both
• Displays, typically constructed from LED lights or liquid crystal (LCD) capable of showing a number of digits (typically eight or 10)
• Electronic circuitry
• Keypads that contain:
  • The ten digitsof 0 through 9
  • The decimal point
  • The equals sign will ask for the answer
  • The four Arithmetic functions (namely, addition, subtraction multiplication, division and subtraction)
  • The cancel button is used to erase the current calculation
  • The buttons for on and off
  • Other basic functions like square root and percent (%).
• The more advanced models might have a single-number memory, which can be stored in case of need. It could also come with an Cancel Entry button, which will eliminate the current numbers that are being entered.

Since the mid 1980s Simple calculators were included in other small gadgets including cell phones, pagesters or wrist watches.

Advanced electronic calculators

Advanced scientific calculators include trigonometric, statistical and many other math functions. Modern calculators can display graphics and also include features from computers algebra systems. They can also be programmed. calculator applications include solvers for algebraic equations, financial models, and games. A majority of these calculators can print numbers as large as 10 decimal points or digits in full-screen. Scientific notation is used to notate numbers of up to 9.999999999*10 ⁹⁹. If a higher value or a mathematical equation that returns more than the one entered (a common instance is entering "100! ", read as "100 factorial") then the calculator will simply display "error."

"Error" is also displayed if a function or an operation is mathematically undefined or mathematically. For instance, division using zero, or roots of negative numbers (most scientific calculators don't allow complex numbers, though a few expensive ones have a special function for working with them). A few, but certainly not all calculators are able to differentiate between the two kinds of "error," though when they do, it is not always easy for users to comprehend because they're usually listed by the numbers "error 1" or "error 2."

Only a few companies develop and manufacture modern professional financial and engineering calculators that are well-known. The most popular are Casio, Sharp, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Texas Instruments (TI). Such calculators are good example of embedded software.