Calculators bring joy
Like most university students that go into the engineering field, I own a graphic scientific calculator.
My first calculator, as far as needing a calculator is regarded, was a Casio that had a hard cover that flapped on and off vertically, like a notepad. I later bought another Casio, this time the fx-570s. This second non-graphical scientific calculator did more complex operations and had a library of constants built in that made my life a little easier.
Only in my 12th grade did I have the priviledge of receiving a graphical scientific calculator. It was a Sharp EL-9200C and I just loved it with all it’s graphic glory and pretty print!
As you can see I went through a couple of models and brands throughout highschool but ended up with my Texas Instruments TI-89 half way through my degree. And it is just amazing what you can get done with this machine!
And even although the TI-89 can do much more than I fathom, it becomes even more powerful and useful when you start adding programs to it’s flash memory. Programs like Cellsheet (a small but nonetheless powerfull spreadsheet), Simultaneous Equation Solver, Polynomial Root Finder, and much more are all available for download on the official Texas Instruments website.
I must say that I love using Cellsheet on my TI-89 because it just makes it so much easier to do statistical analysis, economic studies and so much more.
Then there are all the programs that are available on the internet that were made by programmers from around the world. Studying in different fields and therefore offering different solutions and applications. One of the largest, if not the largest, of such websites is TiCalc.org, which has an enormous community that constantly uploads, downloads and discusses the latest applications, programs and even games for Texas Instruments calculators.
Some applications that I’ve used from TiCalc.org recently:
- MathSoft 89 v1.1.9a
Basic math toolkit that will assist you in calculus, algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. - Linear Interpolation
Pretty straight forward tool to quickly perform a linear interpolation. - Antoine Equation Solver
Solves de Antoine Equation for a number of substances. - Chemistry Equation Solver v4.11
It does what it says. Most of the time.
There are a lot more that I’ve used but these were the last ones that came to mind and which I found to be useful from time to time.
I will certainly be talking more about my calculator and the great applications that I’ve come across over the last couple of years.
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