Tutoring math, you spend lots of time with calculators.  The tutor noticed a function the other day that’s convenient and fun.

My high school math students love the Sharp EL-520W – or its newer counterpart, which might be the EL-531. I see a few kinds. These calculators are “forward entry”, which is very popular nowadays. (Forward entry means that to enter, for example, square root of 26, you press the square root key, then key in 26, then equals. Though this seems obvious, calculators in the ’80s were commonly reverse entry: you entered first the number, then pressed square root.) Reverse entry calculators are still made, by the way; I have a number of them and some of my students still use them. They’re great, once you’re used to them – but that’s probably for another post.

Getting back to the Sharp EL-520W: the other day I noticed the RANDOM function. On mine, it’s 2ndF 7. If you press 2ndF 7, you’ll be greeted with a choice screen: RAND or R-DICE. To choose RAND (for random number), press 0. The screen then says RANDOM_; press = to receive a random number. (It’s between 0 and 1, as random number outputs commonly are.) You can keep pressing equals to get new random numbers.

If you press 2ndF 7, then key in 1, you choose R-DICE. Now, you see R.DICE_ across the screen. Pressing = gives you a number from 1 to 6: it’s a simulation of throwing a six-sided die. Not having dice is no longer an excuse to not play a board game;)

I seldom am asked about random numbers; yet, they are prominent in some university courses. I did my entire math degree with a calculator less powerful than the Sharp EL-520W:)

Have a great weekend.

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