Entering scientific notation on calculators is an important consideration.  When you tutor high school sciences, you’ll want to mention it.

If you’re a new arrival, you might want to read my previous post on scientific notation.  Assuming you’re good with it, we’ll continue.

Scientific calculators have specific keys you’re meant to use to enter numbers in scientific notation.  For best results, you should enter scientific notation the way that is intended for your model of calculator.

In front of me I have a Sharp, a Casio, and a Texas Instruments.  All are fairly plain scientifics that run between $10 and $20 last I checked.  By far most of the calculators I see students using are similar to one of these three.  However, I do see other makes occasionally that use different keys for scientific notation.

Example 1: Enter 7.29×10^-3 on a Sharp EL-520W.

The Sharp calculators I’ve seen, including this one, use the Exp key for entering scientific notation:

7.29Exp-3 does it.  You’ll know you’ve entered it correctly because on the right hand side you’ll see “x10^-03“.

Example 2:  Enter 7.29×10^-3 on a Casio fx-260 Solar.

As much as I’ve seen, Casio also uses the Exp key for entering scientific notation.  Use the same key sequence as in Example 1.  With this model of Casio, you’ll see “-03” as a superscript.

Example 3:  Enter 7.29×10^-3 on a Texas Instruments TI-30XA.

The Texas Instruments calculators I’ve seen use the EE key for scientific notation.  You will enter 7.29EE-3.  It will also accept 7.29EE3-.

Hope this helps!

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