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Calculation

Calculator skills are necessary in mathematics. This section reviews important calculator skills and useful calculator keys. Other skills are reviewed in Powers, Logarithms and Trigonometry.

Try the following questions to refresh your memory and check your skills. If you have any difficulty follow the underlined links for further information.

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Self-Test

Questions
1. Evaluate the following, both (i) by hand and (ii) with a calculator:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

(a) $ \ \ 5 \times 2+ 1$     (b) $ \ \ 6+2 \times 2$     (c) $ \ \ 4 \times (2 + 1)$    
(d) $ \ \ 2-5 +1$ (e) $ \ \ 5-2- 1$ (f) $ \ \ 4 - (2-3) $
(g) $ \ \ \displaystyle \frac{2+4 \times 3}{2\times 4+3}$ (h) $ \ \ 1 + 2^2$ (i) $ \ \ 3 \times 2^2$

2. Evaluate the following with a calculator:
 
 
 
 
 
 

(a) $ \ \ \sqrt{1.3^2 + 4.2^2}$     (b) $ \ \ \sqrt{\displaystyle \frac{1 + 2.7^2}{1 + 4.3^2}}$     (c) $ \ \ \displaystyle \frac{1}{1 + \sqrt{3.1}}$    
(d) $ \ \ 1.1^{50}$ (e) $ \ \ 1.1^{-20}$ (f) $ \ \ 2.4\pi$

 
 
Note: The answers are rounded off to 3 significant figures - see Precision.