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I have a TI-83 Plus now, but am very calculator-incompetent. Where can you find any programs helping you on the test, how do you download them, and how do you store formulas? Also, could someone list the keys needed to find an integral, derivative on both a graph and calculation? Thank you very much.

By Zzii (Zzii) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 07:22 pm: Edit

That's a lot of information, but I'd like to help you out as much as possible:

For integrals and derivatives of graphs:
I'll assume you know how to graph a function already. Once the graph is displayed, its relatively easy to calculate integrals and derivatives.

For derivatives: press the "2nd" button followed by the "TRACE" button for the "CALC" function. This brings up a list of calculations. Number 6 is dy/dx, so press "6" to use this. This will bring you back to the graph. At this point, type the x-value that at which you want to find the derivative. It should appear as x = 12 or whatever you typed on the bottom left corner of the screen. Hit "ENTER" and the derivative will be displayed in the bottom left of the screen.

For integrals, hit "2nd" then "TRACE" just like before. Option 7 is for integrals, so hit "7". This takes you back to the graph. In the bottom left it should say "Lower limit?" Type the x-value of the lower bound of the integral and hit "ENTER". Then it will ask for the "Upper limit?" Type the upper bound and hit "ENTER". It should fill in the area under the graph and display the integral in the bottom left corner. In order for it to work, you must be zoomed out enough for the bounds to be within the display. If you are not, hit "ZOOM" then "3" then "ENTER" to zoom out and try again.

For derivatives and integrals without graphs, the easiest thing to do is type the formula in the Y= place anyway and just make it a graph. There are other functions called fnInt and nDeriv that can be used but this is more complicated.

As for storing formulas, this is a lot more complicated. It usually involves knowing the calculator programming language, TI-BASIC. If you really want to get into this, let me know, but it's probably easier to memorize the formuals. You should know them for the non-calculator parts anyway.

By Sticksandstones (Sticksandstones) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 07:30 pm: Edit

www.ticalc.org

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