Agraphing calculator (alsographics calculator orgraphic display calculator) is ahandheld computer that is capable of plottinggraphs, solvingsimultaneous equations, and performing other tasks withvariables. Most popular graphing calculators areprogrammable calculators, allowing the user to create customized programs, typically for scientific, engineering or education applications. They have large screens that display several lines of text and calculations.
An early graphing calculator was designed in 1921 by electrical engineerEdith Clarke.[1][2][3] The calculator was used to solve problems with electrical power line transmission.[4]
Casio produced the first commercially available graphing calculator in 1985.Sharp produced its first graphing calculator in 1986, withHewlett Packard following in 1988, andTexas Instruments in 1990.[5]
The Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium graphing a sine type graph. (Generated from TI ScreenCapture software on TI Connect CE.)
Some graphing calculators have acomputer algebra system (CAS), which means that they are capable of producing symbolic results. These calculators can manipulate algebraic expressions, performing operations such as factor, expand, and simplify. In addition, they can give answers in exact form without numerical approximations.[6] Calculators that have a computer algebra system are called symbolic or CAS calculators.
Many graphing calculators can be attached to devices like electronicthermometers,pH gauges, weather instruments,decibel andlight meters,accelerometers, and other sensors and therefore function asdata loggers, as well as WiFi or other communication modules for monitoring, polling and interaction with the teacher. Student laboratory exercises with data from such devices enhances learning of math, especially statistics and mechanics.[7]
Graphing calculators are sometimes used forgaming.
Since graphing calculators are typically user-programmable, they are also widely used for utilities andcalculator gaming, with a sizable body of user-created game software on most popular platforms.[8] The ability to create games and utilities has spurred the creation of calculator application sites (e.g.,Cemetech) which, in some cases, may offer programs created using calculators'assembly language. Even though handheld gaming devices fall in a similar price range, graphing calculators offer superior math programming capability for math based games. However, due to poor display resolution, slow processor speed and lack of a dedicated keyboard, they are mostly preferred only by high school students.[8]
For developers and advanced users, including researchers, analysts, and gamers, third-party software development involving firmware modifications—whether to enhance gaming performance or to exploit capabilities beyond those documented in official data sheets and programming languages—remains a contentious issue. Manufacturers and educational authorities express concern that such modifications may facilitate unfair calculator use during standardized high school and college examinations, where these devices are subject to strict regulations.
There are many graphing calculators that do not require dedicated hardware, but run on a device in a web browser or as an app. Notable graphing calculators of this type includeDesmos andGeoGebra.[9][10]
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2018)
Attitudes towards graphing and other calculators in education have evolved over the years, and while some jurisdictions prohibit their use for classwork or exams, others permit or even require their usage, particularly forcalculus andtrigonometry classes.
HP Prime, a modern graphing calculator capable of doing Symbolic Manipulation, Computer Algebra System (CAS)
North America – high school mathematics teachers allow and even encourage their students to use graphing calculators in class. In some cases (especially incalculus courses) they arerequired.[12][13]
College Board of the United States – permits the use of most graphing calculators that do not have aQWERTY-style keyboard for parts of itsAP andSAT exams. CAS-equipped calculators are permitted on AP exams,[14] however they are not permitted on the SAT exams.[15]TheACT exam andIB schools do not permit the use of calculators with computer algebra systems.[16][17][18]
United Kingdom – a graphing calculator is allowed forA-level maths courses, however they are not required and the exams are designed to be broadly 'calculator neutral'. Similarly, atGCSE, all current courses include one paper where no calculator of any kind can be used, but students are permitted to use graphical calculators for other papers. The use of graphical calculators atGCSE is not widespread with cost being a likely factor. The use ofCAS is not allowed for eitherA-level orGCSE. Similarly, calculators with QWERTY keyboard layout are also not allowed as well.[19][20] The Scottish SQA allows the use of graphic calculators in maths exams (excluding paper 1, which is exclusively non-calculator), however these should either be checked before exams by invigilators or handed out by the exam centre, as certain functions / information is not allowed to be stored on a calculator in the exam.[21]
Finland and Slovenia – and certain other countries, it is forbidden to use calculators with symbolic calculation (CAS) or 3D graphics features in thematriculation exam. This changed in the case of Finland, however, as symbolic calculators were allowed from spring 2012 onwards.
Norway – calculators withwireless communication capabilities, such asIR links, have been banned at some technical universities.
Australia – policies vary from state to state.
Victoria – theVCE specifies approved calculators as applicable for its mathematics exams. ForFurther Mathematics an approved graphics calculator (for exampleTI-83/84,Casio 9860,HP-39G) or CAS (for exampleTI-89,the ClassPad series,HP-40G) can be used. Mathematical Methods (CAS) has a technology free examination consisting of short answer and some extended answer questions. It then also has a technology-active examination consisting of extended response and multiple choice questions: a CAS is the assumed technology for Mathematical Methods (CAS). Specialist Mathematics has a technology free examination and a technology-active examination where either an approved graphics calculator or CAS may be used. Calculator memories are not required to be cleared. In subjects like Physics and Chemistry, students are only allowed a standard scientific calculator.
Western Australia – alltertiary entrance examinations in Mathematics involve a calculator section which assume the student has a graphics calculator; CAS enabled calculators are also permitted. In subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Accounting only non-programmable calculators are permitted.[22][needs update]
New South Wales – graphics calculators are allowed for the General MathematicsHigher School Certificate exam,[23] but disallowed in the higher level Mathematics courses.
China - Only the Shanghai College Entrance Examination allows the use of calculators without graphing and memory. Except for Shanghai, the other provinces and cities do not allow the use of calculators, so calculators in general are banned in primary and secondary education in most parts of China.[24]
India - Calculators are prohibited in primary and secondary education. (ICSE allows the Casio fx-82MS, or equivalent scientific calculator in 12th boards). University degree and diploma courses have their own rules on use of permitted models of calculators in exams. Casio'sfx-991MS, fx-991ES, fx-100MS, and fx-350MS scientific calculators are used in many university degree and diploma courses. These calculators are also permitted for university exams as they are non-programmable since programmable calculators are not allowed for university exams. During the online GATE examinations and other competitive examinations, candidates are provided with a virtual scientific calculator as physical calculators of any type are not permitted.
New Zealand – Calculators identified as having high-level algebraic manipulation capability are prohibited inNCEA examinations unless specifically allowed by a standard or subject prescription. This includes calculators such as theTI-89 series[1].
Turkey – any type of calculator whatsoever is prohibited in all primary and high schools.[25]
Singapore – graphing calculators are used in junior colleges; it is required in the Mathematics paper of the GCE 'A' Levels, and most schools use theTI-84 Plus orTI-84 Plus Silver Edition.
Netherlands – high school students are obliged to use graphing calculators during tests and exams in their final three years. Most students use theTI-83 Plus orTI-84 Plus, but other graphing calculators are allowed, including theCasio fx-9860G andHP-39G. Graphing calculators are almost always allowed to be used during tests instead of normal calculators, which sometimes results in cheat sheets being made on forehand and exchanged before the test starts using link cables.
Israel – Graphing calculators are forbidden to use in theBagrut (equivalent to the British A-Levels) math exam, in addition to programmable calculators.[26] University degree and diploma courses have their own rules on use and permitted models of calculators in exams.
Typical ports on a graphing calculator. These contain a 2.5 mm I/O port for connecting to other calculators and a Mini USB port for connecting to a PC.
Most graphing calculators, as well as some non-graphingscientific calculators and programmer's calculators can be programmed to automate complex and frequently used series of calculations and those inaccessible from the keyboard.
Programming is often performed on a computer and subsequently uploaded to the calculator. Common tools for this process include PC link cables and corresponding software for the specific calculator, configurable text editors or hex editors, and specialized programming environments supporting various languages on the computer side.
Earlier calculators used magnetic cards and similar media for program storage; however, increased onboard memory has made internal storage the prevailing method. Some modern calculators also support external memory cards.
A cable and/orIrDA transceiver connecting the calculator to a computer make the process easier and expands other possibilities such as on-board spreadsheet, database, graphics, and word processing programs. The second option is being able to code the programs on board the calculator itself. This option is facilitated by the inclusion of full-screen text editors and other programming tools in the default feature set of the calculator or as optional items. Some calculators haveQWERTY keyboards and others can be attached to an external keyboard which can be close to the size of a regular 102-key computer keyboard. Programming is a major use for the software and cables used to connect calculators to computers.
The most common programming languages used for calculators are similar to keystroke-macro languages and variants ofBASIC. The latter can have a large feature set—approaching that of BASIC as found in computers—including character and string manipulation, advanced conditional and branching statements, sound, graphics, and more including, of course, the huge spectrum of mathematical, string, bit-manipulation, number base, I/O, and graphics functions built into the machine.
Most calculators capable to being connected to a computer can be programmed in assembly language and machine code, although on some calculators this is only possible through using exploits. The most common assembly and machine languages are forTMS9900,SH-3,Zilog Z80, and variousMotorola chips (e.g. a modified68000) which serve as the main processors of the machines although many (not all) are modified to some extent from their use elsewhere. Some manufacturers do not document and even mildly discourage the assembly language programming of their machines because they must be programmed in this way by putting together the program on the PC and then forcing it into the calculator by various improvised methods.
Other on-board programming languages include purpose-made languages, variants ofEiffel,Forth, andLisp, and Command Script facilities which are similar in function to batch/shell programming and otherglue languages on computers but generally not as full featured. Ports of other languages likeBBC BASIC and development of on-board interpreters forFortran,REXX,AWK,Perl,Unix shells (e.g.,bash,zsh), other shells (DOS/Windows 9x,OS/2, andWindows NT family shells as well as the related4DOS,4NT and4OS2 as well asDCL),COBOL,C,Python,Tcl,Pascal,Delphi,ALGOL, and other languages are at various levels of development.
Some calculators, especially those with other PDA-like functions have actual operating systems including the TI proprietary OS for its more recent machines,DOS,Windows CE, and rarelyWindows NT 4.0 Embedded et seq, andLinux. Experiments with theTI-89,TI-92,TI-92 Plus andVoyage 200 machines show the possibility of installing some variants of other systems such as a chopped-down variant ofCP/M-68K, an operating system which has been used for portable devices in the past.
Tools which allow for programming the calculators in C/C++ and possibly Fortran and assembly language are used on the computer side, such asHPGCC, TIGCC and others. Flash memory is another means of conveyance of information to and from the calculator.
Most graphing calculators have on-board spreadsheets which usually integrate with Microsoft Excel on the computer side. At this time, spreadsheets with macro and other automation facilities on the calculator side are not on the market. In some cases, the list, matrix, and data grid facilities can be combined with the native programming language of the calculator to have the effect of a macro and scripting enabled spreadsheet.
HP28S, c. 1989, the first graphing calculator made byHewlett-Packard
TI-81, c. 1990, the first graphing calculator made byTexas Instruments
HP48 Series, c. 1992, the first graphing calculator by HP to use Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) and also SD card expansion
TI-92, c. 1996, the first graphing calculator in a PDA form factor, the first graphing calculator to have Computer Algebra System (CAS) and the first graphing calculator to have 3D graphing capability
TI-83, c. 1996, one of the most commercially successful graphing calculators and a forebearer to the more successful TI-84 and TI-84 Plus
Casio Classpad 300, c. 2003, the first graphing calculator with a touchscreen display
Casio fx-CG 20, c. 2011, the first graphing calculator with a colour display
Dick, Thomas P. (1996). Much More than a Toy. Graphing Calculators in Secondary school Calculus. In P. Gómez and B. Waits (Eds.), Roles of Calculators in the Classroom pp 31–46). Una Empresa Docente.
Ellington, A. J. (2003). A meta-analysis of the effects of calculators on students' achievement and attitude levels in precollege mathematics classes. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. 34(5), 433–463.
Heller, J. L., Curtis, D. A., Jaffe, R., & Verboncoeur, C. J. (2005). Impact of handheld graphing calculator use on student achievement in algebra 1: Heller Research Associates.
Khoju, M., Jaciw, A., & Miller, G. I. (2005). Effectiveness of graphing calculators in K-12 mathematics achievement: A systematic review. Palo Alto, CA: Empirical Education, Inc.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2001). The nation's report card: Mathematics 2000. (No. NCES 2001-571). Washington DC: U.S. Department of Education.
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