Using the Sharp EL 531WH calculator.

Turning the calculator on and setting it up Particular function buttons will be shown in outline as follows. To turn the calculator on press ON/C . To turn the calculator off press 2nd F ON/C. This last operation uses a shift key, 2nd F to change ON/C so that it acts as OFF, which you can see written above the key. To save time and paper we will write these shift operations as OFF . If you have finished a calculation and want to start a new one, clear the calculator by pressing ON/C again; the /C that follows ON stands for Clear immediate memory. If at any time the calculator starts giving unusual answers, it is likely that you have pressed the wrong button at the wrong time. If you dont know what has happened, slide the cover off the calculator and press the reset button at the back using the point of a ballpoint pen. This will restore the calculator to the condition it was in when you first turned it on. Basic operations We will not use the outline to ask you to enter a number, instead of saying 7 we will just say 7. For example; to add two numbers, say 7 + 9 we will tell you to enter 7+ 9 = . When you have done this you will see that the screen shows as 7 + 9= DEG 16. This simply shows you your last calculation (or formula bar) that you used, along with the answer. For the time being you can ignore the small DEG symbols. Subtraction is just as easy. 7 9 = - 2. Multiplication and division follow the same pattern: 16 4 = 64 and 16 4 = 4 . Editing the formula bar Suppose you have just done the last calculation and your calculator shows 164= 4. You may wish to change this to say 163. To do this scroll back until the cursor flashes on 4 and enter 3. You will find that the 4 has been displaced to the right, delete DEL the 4 and press = again to get the new calculation. Try this for yourself. Scroll back and insert 9 before the 16, then delete the 16 and press = so that the new calculation 93=3 shows. Other simple operations To square a number (that is multiply it by itself) enter the number and then press x2 . For example: 5 x2 = will show 25 in the lower part of the screen (it will also show your formula 52 = in the upper left hand of the screen. To find the square root of a number (that is find the number that will give a particular number when multiplied by itself), enter and then the number.

For example: 18 = will show 4.242640687 in the lower part of the screen. You can check this answer by re-squaring, that is press x2 = .and you will see that you have resquared your above answer to get ANS2 = and 18. in the lower part of the screen. To find the cube of a number (that is multiply a number by itself twice) enter the number and press x3 . For example: 6 x3 = will show 216 in the lower part of the screen. To find a cube root (that is reverse or undo this operation): press 3 216 = to get your original 6.
To raise to any power (that is find y for x any number) Enter a number y, then press yx then enter the number x = and you will get your answer in the bottom of the screen. For example: enter 6 yx 5 = , and you will have 6^5= in the top of your screen and 7776. in the bottom of your screen. Your calculator is showing a computer formula in which 6^5 = is the same as 65 =. To do the inverse of this calculation, enter 5 2nd F x 7776 = and you will see the original 6. as the answer. Another way to do the inverse is to calculate 7776(1/5) or 7776^(1/5), this requires 7776 yx ( 1 5 ) = and again you will see 6 as the result. Answers as fractions. This mode is not always found on calculators but is especially useful for students grappling with the complexities of long division and percentages. Consider the long division problem find 35726. If you had to show your working it would like this: 13 26 357 r 19

......26 ......097 ........78 . The answer is 13 remainder 19. Now if you wanted to check this using your calculator then you would do the following entries: 357 ab/c 26 = . and you will find the answer given in the lower screen is 13r19r26. This calculator answer can be read off as 13 remainder 19 (when divided by 26) or as 13 19/26. You can keep adding numbers as fractions or integers and the answers will remain as fractions; however if you enter a number with a decimal fraction the result will revert to decimal form. If you want to convert this answer back to the usual decimal press four times so that there is a flashing cursor before r in the upper screen and then press (or overwrite) and DEL the r and finally press = to get the decimal answer of 13.73076923. ........19

1 1 A textbook problem such as = , can be done as follows: 4 5

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( 1 ab/c 4 1 ab/c 5 ) = . You should be able to recognise the answer 1r 20 as 1/20. Answers as percentages. To get a percentage from a fraction you can use % instead of using = . In this way we find that 4 + 5 % gives 4 +5% of 4 or 4.2 and 4 -5% is 3.8. Also 4 5 % gives 0.2 or 5% of 4, while 4 5 % gives 80. An example using the change of sign. Here is a textbook question on percentages: An item cost $199 but it was marked down by 20%. How much is this discount? What is the final price? Here is how this problem can be done on a calculator (you are not expected to do it this way but it might help you to see how it might be done). 199 20 % shows you that 20% of $199 is a discount of $39.80. 1 = shows -39.8 to which you add the original amount + 199 = shows you that the final discounted amount is $159.20. Change of base This is first discussed in year seven. You can enter any decimal number and change it to: base 16 with HEX , base 8 with OCT , base 5 with PEN , base 2 with BIN and back to decimal form with DEC . If you convert a number into a particular base system, the calculator continues to operate in this system. If you are binary system the calculator only accepts input of 0 or 1. In base 5 the calculator only accepts 0, 1 2, 3, and 4. In base 8 the calculator accepts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. In base 16 the calculator accepts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F. In this HEX mode you can enter the letters using the ALPHA key, these letters dont represent a memory in HEX mode. In any mode other than decimal (DEC) the calculator can work with integers; it will convert fractions, or decimal values between 0 and 1, to zero.

As an exercise try 29 BIN PEN OCT HEX DEC and interpret the results you get.
Sines cosines and tangents. Other functions include: sin, sin-1, cos, cos-1, tan and tan-1. You will almost certainly be using degrees for the angles so press DRG until DEG shows in the upper part of the screen; the other options are RAD for radians and GRAD for gradians. To find, say sin(45): sin 45 = is the sequence. (Be aware that other calculators use 45 sin to get the same result.) The inverse functions also need to be entered before entering the number. For example tan-1 1 = 45 or 45.

To test your skills and improve your understanding, try the following sin 390 = . Now scroll back and insert sin-1 before the sin in the formula bar, press = and interpret the result.

Logarithms and their inverse ie logey lny and e(lny) = y. To find these quantities follow the calculators logic pattern and enter the function before you enter the number. The base ten logarithms may needed although these tend to be of historical interest, 10(logy) = y. Degrees minutes and seconds To enter an angle in degrees minutes and seconds enter the angle in degrees then press DMS and enter the minutes press DMS again and enter the seconds. If you wish to convert your entry to degrees in decimal form press DEG . If you have an angle in decimal form and want to convert this to degrees, minutes and seconds try multiplying the angle (in decimal form) by 100.

Working with memories for more advanced use The calculator has 8 memories in which you can store particular numbers, or constants; These are A, B, C, D, E, F, X and Y. To illustrate why you may find these useful, let us take a simple example. You might be asked to draw a graph of the equation y = ax + b, where a and b are constants. Further, you are asked to plot the graph y = 3x -2, for range of values -3 < x < 8. To do this you need to start by entering 3 into memory A: 3 STO A = which will put 3 into A or make A = 3. Notice that when you hit STO the calculator shifts into ALPHA mode. Next put 2 into B 2 STO B , so that you are ready to start the repeated calculation. To do the calculation we will start by recalling b and a and then calculating with x = -2: B + A 2 = at which point you should see B+A(-2)= in the formula bar as well as the answer, y = -8 in the bottom line. Thus the first point you should plot will have the co-ordinates (x = -2, y = -8). To calculate the co-ordinates for x = -1, scroll back as follows: use to move the cursor in the formula bar onto the number 2 in the formula bar, then enter 1, DEL the old character 2 and press = to get the new co-ordinates (-1, -5). To continue you just need scroll back and over write the previous x value, deleting where necessary. In this fashion you should be able to continue and get (0, -2), (1,1), (2,4), (3,7), (4,10), (5,13), (6,16) and (7,19).
The method of calculating co-ordinates for y = ax + b, discussed above can also be extended for functions such as y = ax2 + bx + c. When you have finished with the memories you can clear them (or reset them to zero) using CA which stand for Clear All memories (except the memory M). There is a memory M, which differs from the others in that numbers can be added M+ or subtracted M to the value in the memory. To clear M you should reset it to zero using 0 STO M . (You can also use M-CLR which clears M and all the other memories.) The calculator also holds the current answer in a stack memory and calls it ANS, this is also reset to zero with ON/C or CA .

Simple statistics with single variable To illustrate this system we will take a set of four number {2, 3, 4, 5 }.
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 (x x )
i

n i

Using the calculator we can find the mean x , the standard deviation sx =

(n 1)

(x x )
i

n i

. n To proceed set the calculator in the STAT MODE , enter 1, then go to the single data mode, enter 0. Next enter 2 M+ and you will see the calculator displays DATA SET = 1, telling you that one datum value has been stored. Enter the other three values using 3 M+, 4 M+ and 5 M+ . At this point you will see DATA SET = 4. You will now find the average of these numbers, x in x = (using the ALPHA shift). You will find the standard deviation in RCL sx as well as RCL x along with RCL n the number of data points (or sample size). You can also get RCL x and RCL x2 . When you have finished and want to use the calculator for other purposes return to MODE 0 clear the memories.

and another deviation that can be used x =

Linear regression. To illustrate this system we will first generate some data. Suppose we use the equation y = 3x + 4 to generate the following data set: {( 2, 10), (3, 13), (4, 16), (1,7), (-1, 1)}. Next scatter these points using small random errors (we used RANDOM = 0.5 = ) to get: {(1.93, 10.39), (2.98, 13.32), (3.94, 16.32), (1.07, 7.12), (-0.97, 0.96)}. Finally, we ask what is the equation of the straight line that best describes this scattered data? This equation is usually found by regression. This gives a minimum least squares fit of the differences between the theoretical line and the actual data. Remember that the data points no longer lie on a straight line. To do a linear regression fit to the data select MODE 1 then press 1 again to select LINE for linear regression and you will find the calculator is ready with Stat 1 showing. Next we enter the data into the calculator. 1.93 STO 10.39 M+ and you will see that DATA SET = 1 has been entered. Repeat using: 2.98 STO 13.32 M+ , 3.94 STO 16.32 M+ , 1.07 STO 7.12 M+ , +/- 0.97 STO 0.96 M+ . At this point you should see DATA SET = 5 on your calculator. ON/C to stop the data acquisition and the calculator is ready to work out the constants a and b, for the best fit line, which will now be y = a + bx . To find a press RCL a = , and you will see a = 3.995395753, which is very close to the original 4. To find b press RCL b = , and you will see b = 3.143354328 which is still recognisable as the 3 in y = 3x + 4 .
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y = 3.143354328x + 3.995395753, but we must round down to y = 3.14x + 4.00; there is no sense in using the high precision numbers when the data is only given to 3 significant figures. We can also find the regression coefficient r using ALPHA r = 0.9994, this indicates that the points are still very well represented by a straight line.

Our best fit line is

If you keep your calculator in its Stat 1 mode it will calculate any other points on the line of best fit (this allows you to interpolate and extrapolate). Say you want to do a projection of your data to see what value of y goes with x = 10. You can do this by entering: 10 y to get 35.43, suggesting that for x =10 you can expect a value of y = 35.43. Now say want to find what value of x corresponds to y = 34. You can to do this by entering 34 for your y value and then x to get 9.545 as the corresponding x value. If you have kept the original instructions for your calculator, you will find that they give detailed instructions for altering a mistake that might have been entered. At this stage we suggest that you just put the calculator back into MODE 0 or NORMAL to clear the statistical memory CA and restart your data entry.

Quadratic regression This is used to fit data to a curve that you believe may be y = a + bx + cx2. To do this use QUAD the quadratic mode. Here is some un-scattered data for a quadratic line: {(-1, -6.9), (0, -5), (2, -0.6), (3, 1.9)}. What is the equation of this line? Start with MODE 1 followed by 2 to select the quadratic mode, also shown as Stat 2. 1 STO 6.9 M+ 0 STO 5 M+ 2 STO 0.6 M+ 3 STO 1.9 M+ At this stage you should see DATA SET = 4. Stop the data entry using ON/C . To find the coefficient a in the quadratic equation (shown above) RCL a to get a = -5. To find the coefficient b in the quadratic equation RCL b to get b = 2. To find the coefficient c in the quadratic equation RCL c to get c = 0.1. To extrapolate for y =4: 4 x to get the corresponding x = 3.78. To interpolate for x = 1: 1 y to get the corresponding y = -2.9.