Tutoring physics or chemistry, you remember your attachment to your calculator as you pursued those subjects.  The tutor observes a feature of great convenience on the SHARP EL-520W.

In high school physics, you might be posed the following question:

How many moles of electrons in a Coulomb?

If you’re familiar with the concepts involved, the answer is not difficult.
6.24e18electrons/Coulomb*1mole/6.02e23electrons =6.24e18mole/6.02e23Coulomb

=1.04e-5 moles/Coulomb

However, to approach the problem, you need to know the constants 6.24e18 and 6.02e23, or else have them handy.

As a student, I soon memorized those constants. Before I had, I needed a reference table, which is often found in the cover of a textbook.

Now, you can use a calculator that has built-in constants. Today I’m highlighting the SHARP EL-520W. To get Avogadro’s constant – which is 6.02e23, used in the above equation – simply press CNST, then enter 28. You’ll see 6.02×10^23 across the screen. To get 6.24e18, the number of electrons in a Coulomb, you first need to realize that it’s the reciprocal of the elementary charge number, 1.60e-19. To get the elementary charge number, press CNST, then 09. You’ll see 1.60×10^-19 across the screen.

The SHARP EL-520W has 52 built-in constants, many of which I’ve never had occasion to use. However, I’ll discuss more about them in future posts:)

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.