Calculator Thread

[Anonymous No.10203473]

Is the TI-nspire CX CAS too much for studying math independently? Would sticking with a TI-89 Titanium be a better idea?

[Anonymous No.10203479]

>>10203473
Neither are good because using them turns you out of mathematical thinking.
You need RPN for calculator. HP50g if they still make it is GOD TIER.

[Anonymous No.10203482]

>>10203473
This calculator is shit.
The keyboard on mine stopped working after less than a year and would constantly type random letters making the whole calculator unusable.

[Anonymous No.10203488]

>>10203473
Just pirate Matlab/Maple/mathematica

[Anonymous No.10203490]

>>10203473
i used EMU92 and a ti92+ rom to check my crap in highschool

[Anonymous No.10203491]

>>10203479
It’s necessary for some numerical analysis problems in differential equations. I know the algorithm for the Runge-Kutta method, but I’m not going to write out every step, of which there are often hundreds, for the sake of practice.

[Anonymous No.10203669]

>>10203490
Are graphing calculators just an amerifag thing? In my high school days in Canada all we needed were scientific calculators.

[Anonymous No.10203710]

>>10203669
I went to an international school in asia and they were required after algebra.
Everyone programmed theirs to play tetris.

[Anonymous No.10203773]

>>10203710
Cringe

[Anonymous No.10204031]

>>10203482
And that's why you take the warranty.

[Anonymous No.10204299]

>>10203473
I use an Nspire CX CAS and don't use half of what it can do. But I do find some of it's functions very useful.
First of all it has backlighting, I bought mine after an annoying exam in a lecture hall with shitty lighting and I had trouble reading the screen of my normal LCD Ti-83. Backlighting is infinitely better and more comfier to read.
Second, it has a spacious screen compared to Ti-83/89 size screens and it displays the formula in natural display. Sometimes it is fiddly to put in stupid exam multiple trigonometry formulas but in normal engineering workflow it is pretty nice.
Third, the scrapbook has a nice big memory and I can re-look on my practice calculations, of course you have to know where to look.
Fourth, matrix inputs are very-very easy compared to the Ti-8x series. Just say you want to place a matrix x by y size, it places on the screen and you fill the values. You don't have to menu dive to define matrix 1 first then matrix 2 or defien 3rd matrix as a det. etc... the go into a separate menu to fill in the defined matrices then remember which one is which and use them on the calculator screen by their name. Horrific even for a basic structural load calculation, much easier on the nspire

I don't know if I have been using CAS or would be using it, this model was available for cheap nearby so I bought it. I bet for normal engie uses you don't even need CAS, unless someone proves me wrong. I have it if I'd need it.

[Anonymous No.10205139]

>>10203479
Almost this. Fuck RPN but a good scientific calculator is the best for doing math

>>10203491
The best way to do numerical analysis was covered in >>10203488 Buying an overpowered calculator will only make you stupid

[Anonymous No.10205637]

>not buying a TI Nspire and loading a dozen JPGs into it with the shit needed for a test
Hehe...amateurs

[Anonymous No.10205655]

So this is a calculator thread I guess. What do you think about remakes of the HP calculators, like this one? (Picture has a relation to this post)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY5Djl0qEa8

[Anonymous No.10205659]

>>10205637
When my prof saw the nspire she asked if it is possible to cheat with it. I said if she can show me how then yes, I could cheat with it. Like I said, I don't care too much about the higher functions, I almost exclusively use the scratchpad. I don't store functions and programs, I don't have any images loaded. Cheating with a calculator is the lowest form of cheating. plus I study 2 hours a day, do the home assignments and practices so I don't really need to cheat to get an A.

[Anonymous No.10205772]

>>10205139
>make you stupid
How is programming on a calculator less intellectually engaging than doing the same thing on a computer?

[Anonymous No.10205783]

>>10205772
programming is for plebs

[Anonymous No.10205806]

>>10205783
Well he recommended Matlab/Maple/Mathematica as alternatives so

[Anonymous No.10206105]

>>10203473
I have an nspire and find it nice. Helped me out in freshman ODE and LA using deSolve and various matrix functions. Later, I took statistics courses and religiously used it. A year later, I thought of selling it but used it often in my economics course.
I've been using it since sophomore HS, and it's pretty solid. The CAS software that comes with it is helpful for doing hw on your computer when you're too lazy to grab it across the room.
Though I do prefer Mathematica and MATLAB now; both have more functionality and freedom but I'll never forget my nspire.

[Anonymous No.10206109]

>>10205783
Take that back
math is useless

[Anonymous No.10206119]

>>10203710
>>10203669

After high school they never seem to pop up anymore. In fact most tests won't let you use them. I have just used Desmos.com occasionally when necessary. On my phone even. I look forward to needing more, but I don't yet.

[Anonymous No.10206121]

Just use a laptop like normal people.

[Anonymous No.10206148]

God tier is a basic scientific calculator and matlab. But for doing real math you never use a calculator

[Anonymous No.10206199]

>>10206148
>matlab
What makes this so much better than the programs you can run on a TI-nspire?

[Anonymous No.10206212]

>>10206199
Bigger screen + keyboard makes it far easier to use

[Anonymous No.10206386]

>>10206212
The Nspire comes with software that you can download to do everything on the PC, even if you don't have the calculator with you.

[Anonymous No.10206402]

>>10206148

I can remember specific time later on in undergrad when I was looking at my TI-89 and thinking, "why do I even have this thing anymore".

[Anonymous No.10206408]

>>10206386
>doesn't realize how autistic this is

[Anonymous No.10206422]

>>10206408
Can you please just give me a straight answer? Everyone’s shitting on that calculator for some reason, but all this thread has shown me is that most of /sci/ has a hateboner for TI.

[Anonymous No.10206426]

>>10206422
Why would you buy a dedicated calculator when you have a computer?

[Anonymous No.10206428]

>>10206408
Retard this is/sci/

[Anonymous No.10206443]

>>10206426
I like to have enough space to keep a notebook and textbook open directly in front of me. A desktop’s keyboard makes that unfeasible, and a laptop is just slow and bulky enough that I’d eventually become irritated with the (admittedly very simple) setup. I dislike laptops in general anyway.

[Anonymous No.10206462]

Honestly all the tools mentioned here are shit tier.
Use something reputable with a solid foundation, such as http://www.coolmath.com/ + Desmos

[Anonymous No.10206465]

>>10203473
>current year
>not using an abacus to really strain the brain noodles

How can one be such a pleb?

[Anonymous No.10206478]

>stupid general engineering class freshman year
>statistics, basic chemistry, engineering ethics all rolled into one shitty class
>load lecture slide PDFs on HP prime and never study shit
>get a 90% on the midterm and final
>class average was a 63%

HP prime is an absolute steal. Got mine for $100

[Anonymous No.10206489]

>>10203473
I have it, use it, and love it. If you like math for any reason, you can't go wrong with one of these things.

[Anonymous No.10206517]

>>10206422
I am unironically an honor student, got a scholarship midterm and had my entire student loan taken care of by the uni/some company the uni is in contract with.
I use an nspire cas cx and had no problem with it during class, practice and exams. Easy to use and displays formulas in easy to read and easy to check format. Backlight is a godsend in shitty lecture halls.
If you are in /engie/ you will be pleased with it, just don't forget to recharge it every week.

[Anonymous No.10206519]

>>10206478
So you are saying to get an HP if you are a lazy cheatshit nigger?
There is a good reason why I got a Ti

[Anonymous No.10206632]

>>10206212
Matlab is so far beyond a calculator. Gonna tune a control system compensator on your TI? Going to have your digital filter automatically translated into C or C++?

Matlab is the bees knees.

[Anonymous No.10206649]

>>10206632
Go away CS monkey

[Anonymous No.10206668]

fx-83GT Plus is the best

[Anonymous No.10206710]

>>10206668

[Anonymous No.10206728]

>>10206710
>he needs an advanced calculator to solve all his problems for him

[Anonymous No.10206734]

>>10206668
>fx-83GT Plus
>not a graphing calculator

Fucking pleb.

[Anonymous No.10206735]

>>10206728
>Solve
The advanced functions aren't there to solve anything. They're there to record and accurately display what you've already solved in your head - or on the back of a napkin or whatever.

[Anonymous No.10206737]

>>10206728
>typical undergraduate thinking
Don't worry, you'll see when you get to the proper engineering classes. If you can get through the freshman trap classes. 20% chance, maybe.

[Anonymous No.10206743]

>>10206737
>engineering
Lol

[Anonymous No.10206744]

>>10206734
>>10206737
>not drawing your own graphs
Lazy faggot

[Anonymous No.10206753]

>>10206744
>not doing both
>purchasing a $20 plus scientific calculator
>not purchasing a literal $1 scientific calculator

Good luck being a cuckold nigger.

[Anonymous No.10206754]

>>10206668
>solving tensor space problems by hand
When you fail your class because you spend your entire exam time on just one problem and you don't even finish that... well, you'll see.

[Anonymous No.10206755]

>>10206744
>Having the discipline to repeatedly sketch properly scaled direction fields, overlayed with visually distinct solution curves for multiple different initial conditions
I'd like to see you try.

[Anonymous No.10206872]

>>10203479
I broke my hp50g

[Anonymous No.10206875]

If you need anything more than pic related, then pls do the world a favor and go change your major to a social science one

[Anonymous No.10206876]

>>10206872
Sell it "like new", no one will notice

[Anonymous No.10206888]

>>10205806
You literally just write the shit you want to solve in Maple or Mathematica

[Anonymous No.10206911]

>>10206888
You have to write it in a programming language.

[Anonymous No.10206931]

mathfag here, not allowed to use a calculator at all

fuck off subhumans

[Anonymous No.10206940]

>>10206931
>t. brainlet unable to do anything with numbers

[Anonymous No.10206941]

>>10203473
own one, all it's good for is playing doom and quake
i mostly use a regular calculator and mathematica, the cas will make you lazy, does all the work for you

[Anonymous No.10206944]

>>10206941
>does all the work for you
With enough time, couldn't you get Mathematica to do the same?

[Anonymous No.10206957]

>>10206944
I suppose you could, but I have not reached that level so it's quite nice to use.

[Anonymous No.10206961]

SMath Studio is invaluable for engineers. I use it everyday.

[Anonymous No.10206973]

>>10206940

> spends his time learning how to make a calculator solve equations for him

*clap clap clap clap*

retard

[Anonymous No.10206996]

>>10206973
How about with your insane knowledge you calculate how much stress an exhaust pipe can withstand on an oil boiler when fed with a combination of 70% raw oil and 30% used automotive oil? Calculate for 3 kind of burner nozzles at optimal air ratio. That last part for making it easier for you.
Oh, time to calculate it is 20 minutes to make it even easier.

This was actually in one of my combustion tech/thermal energy exams. Calculating just the ingredients from the oil chem composition on a calculator took 15 minutes alone.

[Anonymous No.10206999]

>>10206996
I'm not an engineer

[Anonymous No.10207006]

>>10206999
And don't you ever forget that, son

[Anonymous No.10207014]

>>10206996

> how about you spend your time learning how to chug in numbers into formulas like a monkey

how do engineers on this board always manage to outdo themselves with embarrassing statements?

[Anonymous No.10207036]

>>10207014
You strangely sound like a freshman

[Anonymous No.10207041]

>>10207036

i've TAd many engineers and they are as retarded as you would expect

these are not the people i would want to build anything but luckily there are mathematicians building the software so these chimps dont actually remain unemployed

[Anonymous No.10207073]

>>10207041
That is interesting, Tell me, how do you feel about failing calc 1 when an engineer could succeed and get on to more complex materials?
Are you going to try it next year or did you drop out already?
That will be one cheeseburger and three small fries. Small fry, like yourself, now get to work or I won't tip you!

[Anonymous No.10207094]

>>10207073

> "show"
> engineer plugs in numbers and thinks he proved anything

[Anonymous No.10207097]

>>10203473
>www.desmos.com

[Anonymous No.10207509]

>>10207097
Love this brainlet so much

[Anonymous No.10207851]

>>10207006
BTFO

[Anonymous No.10208228]

>>10203473
Literally just download wabbitemu on your phone lmao
if you have an iPhone I'm sure there's apps for that and if not you can pick up a walmart chinkphone and use it as a graphing calculator.

[Anonymous No.10208256]

>>10208228
Phones are not allowed on exams. You gotta buy a proper calculator

[Anonymous No.10208257]

>>10203473

[Anonymous No.10208261]

>>10208256
op didn't ask about exams tard
quite the opposite actually

[Anonymous No.10208270]

>>10203473
Do you mean engineering? Why would you need a calculator for math?

[Anonymous No.10208346]

>>10203488
thoughts on octave?

[Anonymous No.10208358]

>>10208346
Shit like any foss software for math and engineering

[Anonymous No.10208391]

>>10203479
Chris Langan's calculator of choice.

[Anonymous No.10208401]

>>10203473
Never use a calculator. Use a numerical scripting language like Octave or python.

[Anonymous No.10208414]

>>10203669
Amerifat here. We get cucked by Texas Instruments into thinking that we need their archaic pieces of shit I'm high school math classes. Once we get to college calculators in general are banned during exams and quizzes, at least in math classes beyond precalculus. The only math class that allowed them was a bullshit History of Math class. Computers are useful in math but instead of using a gimped $100+ brick we just use MATLAB, Octave, Wolfram, etc. High school students would be better served by making them use Octave or python for topics that benefit from computers over a TI-83+, but here we are.

I could see calculators still being useful in chemistry, physics, and other sciences but in those cases a scientific calculator is probably fine.

[Anonymous No.10208417]

>>10208358
u sure m8 its the same as matlab

[Anonymous No.10208419]

>>10205772
It might not be but writing programs on a calculator is absolute aids.

[Anonymous No.10208725]

>>10208270
Occasionally, math requires the manipulation of numbers.

[Anonymous No.10208743]

>>10208419
What's your stance on programs written on PC that are immediately transferable to the calculator? Considering >>10206386

[Anonymous No.10209484]

>>10208257
Thanks, reported this to the Discord team

[Anonymous No.10210491]

What is the difference between a normal nspire CX and a CAS version? The normal version is much cheaper, will I be okay without CAS for mechanical engineering?

[Anonymous No.10211174]

>>10210491
CAS IS the real deal.
I wouldn't spend money for a calculator without it. And this is not considering the easy option to just pirate Mathematica.

[Anonymous No.10211322]

>>10210491
Do you enjoy solving derivatives and integrals entirely by hand, evaluating numerical methods one step at a time, and/or having to work backwards to verify solutions to differential equations?

I'd say go for the CAS - unless you're really poor, or a PC software elitists like all the cool kids in this thread.

[Anonymous No.10211569]

>>10211174
>>10211322
thx

[Anonymous No.10211594]

>>10205139
Why fuck RPN? It's only a problem for complex equations for which you use the equation writer for. The mind disengages from math mode when inputting on typical calculator format. When you are calculating in your head or on paper, you're engaged. This retains it so you don't lose your train of thought.

[Anonymous No.10211615]

>>10211594
Takes more time and exams have a finite, rather short time for the problems
Sure, you can fuck around with RPN thinking you are top wizard or some shit, but the chads finishing before time is up and getting above 90% will be fucking the girls.

[Anonymous No.10211619]

>>10208346
>GPL

>>>/tumblr/

[Anonymous No.10212010]

>>10203473
I've had one for several years. Battery life is god-tier and there are a bunch of things you can do with it. Figuring out how to use all of the functions and whatnot can take some time, but once you do, you can find a solution very quickly. There are also ways to put shitty games on it, so if you have down time in a situation where the only acceptable electronic is a calculator, you can play tetris on it.

[Anonymous No.10212024]

>>10203488
>>10206875
My niggas.

[Anonymous No.10212593]

>>10211322
>Do you enjoy solving derivatives and integrals entirely by hand

that's what I'm doing my phD on

[Anonymous No.10213132]

>>10206973
Iterative methods are more algorithms than equations desu.

[Anonymous No.10213403]

>>10211619
???

[Anonymous No.10214766]

We are not allowed to use calculators at all. We must do everyting by hand. Therefore we have to do the derivation everytime. At home or during learning sessions I use wolframalpha and mathematica, matlab etc. just to find the result after I have done my calculation to compare it to.
The trade-off are small and easy numbers to calculate with or not using any number at all. If you have something like 97 times something you can approximate it to 100 times something during exams.
If you are in the lab, a simple calculator is mostly everything you need.

[Anonymous No.10214798]

>>10203473
>studying math independently

I would strongly advise against buying a calculator at all if you're starting as an autodiadact with roughly a highschool education. You'll end up using it as a crutch to avoid learning to think mathematically.

If you think you need it because you're exceptionally interested in numerical methods, then you might as well learn to script at the computer. Pirate mathematica or similar like others have suggested. Again, if you're just starting out please avoid this. There are plenty of introductory books you can work through without calculators or a CAS.

Don't become that guy who insists sin(pi) =/= 0

[Anonymous No.10214835]

>>10214766
>t. sad useless puremath virgin

[Anonymous No.10215080]

>>10214835
> implying that there are labs in math

[Anonymous No.10215146]

>>10215080
It's Electronic Engineering and Information Technology. But the rules apply to all of our facilities and classes. This decision was made many years ago.