Solving Physics Problems with your TI 83 Calculator By David Doty This web site is designed to help students become familiar with the use of the TI 83 and TI 83 calculators for use in physics classes While the use of this web page is not limited to physics students the concepts addressed here tend to cause problems facing physics students How to input scientific notation with your TI shortcut Addition and subtraction Multiplication Division Sample physics problems TI order of operations Inputting using parentheses Rationale How to input scientific notation with your TI shortcut The use of the EE key For many calculators including the TI 83 and TI 83 Plus the EE button is used to enter scientific notation The EE button can be found in yellow above the comma key For entering scientific notation the following keystrokes should be used first type the number then the 2nd key followed by the comma key 2nd EE followed by the exponent As an example to enter 3 x 108 type 3 EE 8 The display will read 3E8 The calculator can be set to display answers in scientific notation or normal display To set the display simply press the mode button and using the arrow keys select the desired display and press enter To leave this menu press 2nd MODE to quit Follow these examples for inputting basic addition subtraction multiplication and division top Addition Add Type Displayed answer Numerical answer 8 1 x 106 4 2 x 105 8 1 EE 6 4 2 EE 5 8 52E6 8 52 x 106 8 520 000 top Subtraction Subtract 6 2 x 10 2 8 x 10 4 Type 6 2 EE 3 2 8 EE 4 Numerical answer 5 92E 3 Numerical answer 5 x 10 3 0 00592 top 3 Multiplication Multiply 3 x 106 2 x 103 Type 3 EE 6 X 2 EE 3 Displayed answer 6E9 Numerical answer 6 x 109 6 000 000 000 top Division 6 x10 8 2 x1010 Divide Type 6 EE 8 2 EE 10 Displayed answer 3E 2 Numerical answer 3 x 10 2 0 03 top Sample Physics Problems 1 What is the magnitude of the gravitational force between an electron and a proton separated by a distance of 1 0 x 10 10 meters answer 2 A positive charge of 6 0 x 10 6 C is 0 030 m from a second positive charge of 3 0 x 10 6 C Calculate the electric force between the charges answer 3 In a vacuum the wavelength of green light is 5 x 10 7 meter What is its frequency answer 4 What is the energy of a photon with a frequency of 3 00 x 1013 cycles per second answer top Answers to Sample Physics Problems 1 Fg Gm1 m2 6 67 10 11 Nm 2 kg 2 9 11 10 31 kg 1 67 10 27 kg 1 0 10 47 r2 1 0 10 10 m 2 N Type 6 67 EE 11 X 9 11 EE 31 X 1 67 EE 27 1 EE 10 x2 Calculator Display 6 67E 11 9 11E 31 1 67E 27 1E 102 Displayed answer 1 0E 47 Numerical answer 1 0 x 10 47 Back to Problems 2 Fe kq1 q 2 8 99 10 9 Nm 2 C 2 6 0 10 6 C 3 0 10 6 C 180 r2 0 030m 2 N Type in 8 99 EE 9 X 6 0 EE 6 X 3 0 EE 6 030 x2 Calculator Display 8 99E9 6 00E 6 3 00E 6 0302 Displayed answer 179 8 Numerical answer 179 8 Back to Problems top 3 c 3 00 10 8 m s f 6 1014 Hz 7 5 0 10 m Type in 3 EE 8 X 5 EE 7 Calculator display 3E8 5E 7 Displayed answer 6E14 Numerical answer 6 0 x 1014 Back to Problems 4 E hf 6 63 X 10 34 Js 3 00 X 1013 Hz 1 99 x10 20 J Type in 6 63EE 34 X 3EE13 Calculator display 6 63E34 3E13 Displayed answer 1 99E 20 Numerical answer 1 99 x 10 20 Back to Problems top Inputting using parentheses For those of you who do not want to use the EE button on the calculator yes parentheses can be used to enter equations Example from the division section above 6 10 Divide 2 10 8 10 This can be entered 6 X 10 8 2 X 10 10 Answer 3E 2 3 x 10 2 top TI orders of operation The problem with typing in X 10 exponent is that the TI 83 calculators do not distinguish scientific notation from multiplication and division This becomes problematic when dividing numbers in scientific notation As an example look at question 3 from the sample physics problems In a vacuum the wavelength of green light is 5 X 10 7 meter What is its frequency The solution is f c 3 00 X 108 m s 6 X 1014 Hz 5 0 X 10 7 m However if typed in 3 X 10 8 5 X 10 7 the TI gives the answer of 6 This is the orders of operations that the TI follows for this example 3 10 8 10 7 60000000 10 7 6 5 top Rationale Although one of the goals of the new NYS standards is to increase conceptual understanding of physics students still need to be able to mathematically solve physics problems Many students use the Texas Instrument calculators TI 83 and TI 83 as a tool for solving problems and we need to clarify the problems that students have in using this tool The TI calculators do not use common sense when performing calculations so the students need to correctly input the data to get the correct outcomes top David Doty David Doty is currently teaching NYS Regents Physics Environmental Science and various science laboratories at Salamanca City Central Schools He has a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is working on the completion of his Masters in Physics Education at Buffalo State College If you wish to contact me please email me at ddoty salamancany org
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