Basic Calculator Manipulation
Reference > Mathematics > TI-30X IIYou should have in front of you either a TI-30X IIS or a TI-30X IIB. The difference between these calculators is that the IIS is Solar Powered, and the IIB is Battery Powered.
One of the first things you'll need to do is turn your calculator on. This is easy; in the lower left corner there is a button labeled ON. Press this once.
Notice that above the ON button, there is smaller text that says OFF. This means that the ON button is used for two purposes: to turn the calculator onand to turn it off. How do you use the OFF feature? Press the button in the upper left corner labeled2nd, then press the ON button.
In general, press the 2nd button any time you want to use alternate meaning of a button. For example, to get the % function, press 2nd, and then the open parenthesis key.
Your calculator has a lot of settings that you might never use (things like FIXED notation, or RADIAN mode), but if you're not paying attention to what you're doing, you could accidentally get your calculator in different settings than you want. (Or you might loan the calculator to a friend who changes the settings). If this happens, you'll want to be able to get the calculator back to its "normal" mode.
To do this you will reset the calculator. Can you find the word "RESET" on the calculator? It's right above the number zero. So to reset the calculator, you'll need to press 2nd, and then press 0.
Notice that the calculator shows a message that looks like this:
RESET: N Y
It's asking you to choose between N for "no" and Yfor "yes"
You can choose Y by using the Right Arrow key. That's the key in the upper right corner that looks like an arrow pointing to the right. Press that key once, and then press ENTER.
The calculator will now tell you MEM CLEARED. So not only did the calculator change your settings back to normal; it also cleared the memory. (We'll talk about the memory later).
There is another way to reset your calculator, and it involves pressing two keys at the same time. PressON and while you're still holding that key down, press CLEAR. This time it won't ask you a question; it'll just reset the calculator.
All of this is important, but we haven't even used the calculator to solve a math problem. So let's do that next. Suppose we wanted to find the product of 57 and 192.
It's easy to do; just press the number keys 5 and 7, followed by the plus button, followed by the numbers 1, 9, and 2.
And now, once you've looked at the display to make sure you typed it correctly, press the "equals" orENTER button. You should see the answer on your screen.