How to Find Your Way Around a TI-83/84 Calculator

Being able to find your way around the TI-83 or TI-84 calculator quickly will help you solve math problems faster. That's because there are more than 70 keys, several different key modes, scores of application programs and lots of operation specific screen menus on the TI-83 and TI-84. One approach to simplifying the process of learning about your calculator is to first break up your keyboard into similar functional groups, then determine which application programs you will use the most. Once this is done, focus on the screen menus and screen menu options that you will use most often.

Instructions

    • 1

      Divide your calculator keyboard mentally into rows and columns. Your calculator's keyboard can be viewed roughly as 50 keys arranged in five columns of 10 keys each or 10 rows of five keys each. The keys for entering numbers for calculations (0,1,2.... 9) are a different color than the operational keys (the multiply, divide, subtraction and exponentiation keys).

    • 2

      Locate the four screen cursor control keys, which are the only keys that are not precisely aligned in rows and columns. Look on the upper right hand side for this set of four keys. These keys are arranged in a circular fashion and have a left, right, up and down arrow on them. Use these keys to control the position of your screen cursor.

    • 3

      Locate the "2nd" key (column 1, row 2). Press this key first to activate functions that are printed above a specific key. The function the key will call is printed in the same color as the color of the "2nd" key. Calculate the sine of a number by first typing in the number, pressing the "2nd" key and then pressing the "Y" key (the key that has sin printed above it).

    • 4

      Locate the "Diamond" key (column 1, row 3). Press this key first to activate functions that are listed above a key. The function the key will perform is the same color as the "Diamond" key. Calculate the inverse sine of a number by first pressing the number, pressing the "Diamond" key and then pressing the "Y" key (which has sin-1, for inverse sine, printed above it).

    • 5

      Examine the first row of keys just below your calculator's screen. The keys are circular as opposed to oval for most of the other keys and they are labeled F1, F2, F3, F4 and F5. The labels above these keys that correspond to the same color as the diamond key are "Y=", "WINDOW", "GRAPH", "TBLSET" and "TABLE." Press the "Diamond" key first to activate the function associated with these labels. Enter variable equations into the equation editor that appears after your press the key sequence "Diamond", "F1." Graph the equation you enter function by first pressing the "diamond" key and then pressing "F3" key.

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