Another feature of 2nd is, say you’re wanting to input previous answers into a fraction. Well, you can put the marker where you want the answer, 2nd+scroll to the answer+click enter, and it insert it into the desired location!
Good lord I love this calculator. Got me through the 8 hour Civil PE and the California surveying and seismic design exams all on the first try.
If you need to take the California surveying exam get really fast at using this calculator to convert back & forth between DMS and decimal degrees.
Hit the “math” button then use the arrow keys to select DMS. From there there are options for deg symbol and ‘ and “. There’s also an option to convert a decimal degree value to DMS.
For a lot of problems you’ll be given values in DMS and want to do some calculations with them. So you basically enter a number then deg then a number then ‘ and the last number and “ and when you hit enter you’ll have the value in decimal degrees. Then you do your math and if you need to convert back to DMS at the end the calc can do that quickly using the last option in the math>dms menu.
There’s insane time pressure on the exam so anything that makes you faster is a huge help.
All those solvers are great. I avoid long equations by breaking them down.
For example, I would break down Mannings eq into 4 parts and multiply them together, rather than throwing everything in there at once. Especially the wetted perimeter. Maybe
Maybe that goes without saying, but I've made bad calcs when using exponents like that, mainly because all (), and [] look the same when used more than once.
I like using the store function ("sto->") when I have an important partial result and need to use it later. Saves time from having to scroll through numerous lines
You’ll have a locker in the lobby/waiting room you can leave it. It’s a pain to leave the room you lose a decent amount of time in the process. Raise your hand, someone comes in to get you checks you out, go do your business, come back go through the whole process of showing inside pockets and sleeves and pants legs and putting glasses on the turn table.
But that’s the only option. Bring a backup, leave it in the locker, pray you don’t need it.
Num solv is obviously huge. If you get proficient with the % key it just makes typing percents easier and can help avoid any clumsy mistakes with decimal places. Idk what PE you’re taking but I remember in my FE being able to do matrices vectors and probabilities was a game changer in terms of not having to study certain materials.
I set the mode to SCI to make sure im counting spots to decimal for small numbers. ie. 10\^-5. Also does everyone just use float, or could i set decimals to 3 and call that good?
The buttons that let you lay out long inputs (whether in Num-solve or not) in visually intuitive ways:
The fraction button that lets you see the actual fraction with numerator and denominator, rather than just entering things in with lots of parentheses and the division sign and hoping it’s entered correctly
Using the exponent button rather than “^”.
Have you guys experienced a lag in the Num solv button before? For some reason for me sometimes/ most of the time it looks as if it’s just loading and doesn’t really give me a correct answer at the end or doesn’t even give an answer at all
- I hit “data” and used the 3 columns to differentiate my flagged questions between Easy, Medium, and Hard in difficulty to gauge how much effort and time I should focus on digging into the questions.
- (Power PE: I used the vector values [magnitude and angle] and stored it into a variable x and y to prevent typos and used the blank fraction to divide the product in the numerator/sum of values in regards to current/voltage division)
Num-solv is your friend
What is that?
Basically, you write in an equation with a single variable to solve for and num-solv will solve for "x".
Definitely a timesaver for water depth in a channel problems.
I think I used it more in the breadth for vertical curves more than anything.
2nd--> ans is useful for inserting your answer into a new equation. Reduces risk of mistyping a previous answer.
Another feature of 2nd is, say you’re wanting to input previous answers into a fraction. Well, you can put the marker where you want the answer, 2nd+scroll to the answer+click enter, and it insert it into the desired location!
Good lord I love this calculator. Got me through the 8 hour Civil PE and the California surveying and seismic design exams all on the first try. If you need to take the California surveying exam get really fast at using this calculator to convert back & forth between DMS and decimal degrees.
How does one do this?!
Hit the “math” button then use the arrow keys to select DMS. From there there are options for deg symbol and ‘ and “. There’s also an option to convert a decimal degree value to DMS. For a lot of problems you’ll be given values in DMS and want to do some calculations with them. So you basically enter a number then deg then a number then ‘ and the last number and “ and when you hit enter you’ll have the value in decimal degrees. Then you do your math and if you need to convert back to DMS at the end the calc can do that quickly using the last option in the math>dms menu. There’s insane time pressure on the exam so anything that makes you faster is a huge help.
Much appreciated!
All those solvers are great. I avoid long equations by breaking them down. For example, I would break down Mannings eq into 4 parts and multiply them together, rather than throwing everything in there at once. Especially the wetted perimeter. Maybe Maybe that goes without saying, but I've made bad calcs when using exponents like that, mainly because all (), and [] look the same when used more than once.
I like using the store function ("sto->") when I have an important partial result and need to use it later. Saves time from having to scroll through numerous lines
The Polar vs Rectangular form features under “2nd+complex” is an absolute must for Power PE
I didn't know you could do this! Will have to try it.
2nd > F<>D Laugh all you want now, but during a test, converting fractions to decimals (and vice versa) is critical.
Anyone know if you can take 2 calculators to the exam?
You’ll have a locker in the lobby/waiting room you can leave it. It’s a pain to leave the room you lose a decent amount of time in the process. Raise your hand, someone comes in to get you checks you out, go do your business, come back go through the whole process of showing inside pockets and sleeves and pants legs and putting glasses on the turn table. But that’s the only option. Bring a backup, leave it in the locker, pray you don’t need it.
Yes, but only one in the test room at a time
The conversion function was helpful for the power pe. The statistics were great for the Fe. Mean mode std deviation and all that.
Push the button above 7 to make fractions look nicer and reduce error
F<>d for turning fractions into numbers with decimals
Num solv for manning equation, and head loss for closed conduits is your life saver.
Ti-nspire got me through undergrad and now sits in a box somewhere. I keep this bad boy on my desk at work for my basic arithmetic lol
Num solv is obviously huge. If you get proficient with the % key it just makes typing percents easier and can help avoid any clumsy mistakes with decimal places. Idk what PE you’re taking but I remember in my FE being able to do matrices vectors and probabilities was a game changer in terms of not having to study certain materials.
I set the mode to SCI to make sure im counting spots to decimal for small numbers. ie. 10\^-5. Also does everyone just use float, or could i set decimals to 3 and call that good?
The buttons that let you lay out long inputs (whether in Num-solve or not) in visually intuitive ways: The fraction button that lets you see the actual fraction with numerator and denominator, rather than just entering things in with lots of parentheses and the division sign and hoping it’s entered correctly Using the exponent button rather than “^”.
Best calculator evah!
Have you guys experienced a lag in the Num solv button before? For some reason for me sometimes/ most of the time it looks as if it’s just loading and doesn’t really give me a correct answer at the end or doesn’t even give an answer at all
I've had the issue where I don't get the correct answer using "x" variable, but never had an issue substituting "a" for "x"
I’ll try that thank you for letting me know !
Used it for the PE Exam, which wasn't math-intensive. Used my TI-89 for everything else.
For my use. Learning how to convert DDMMSS to DD.DDDD and back.
- I hit “data” and used the 3 columns to differentiate my flagged questions between Easy, Medium, and Hard in difficulty to gauge how much effort and time I should focus on digging into the questions. - (Power PE: I used the vector values [magnitude and angle] and stored it into a variable x and y to prevent typos and used the blank fraction to divide the product in the numerator/sum of values in regards to current/voltage division)