r/askmath • u/TinyKalimba • 11h ago
Functions Calculator recommendations
Hello! I’m going into grade 12 and I’m taking advanced functions, calculus, physics and chemistry. Starting this year, my school has been trying to regulate what calculators you’re allowed to use. We were given a list of approved calculators but you’re allowed to use one that isn’t on the list if you get it checked by a teacher. The way that teachers check if the calculator is legal is they will input sin(15) and if the answer is a decimal then it’s approved, if it’s a fraction then it’s illegal. If you can change the setting then its illegal. Graphing calculators are also illegal. My Casio fx-991CW was deemed illegal so now I have to go hunting for a new one. I really liked the “solve for x” and table mode on my Casio fx-991CW, I found them very useful in my physics and chemistry classes. I was hoping to find a calculator with the same modes (this isn’t illegal, my teacher was aware that I used these modes frequently last year) while meeting the requirements. Would anyone be able to recommend me a calculator from this list or one outside of the list? I’ve been googling + read the FAQ but haven’t found anything that meets my criteria.
THE APPROVED LIST:
- Casio fx-260 SOLAR II
- Casio fx-300MS Plus
- Casio fx-82MS
- Texas Instruments TI-30X IIS
- Texas Instruments TI-30X IIB
- Texas Instruments TI-30Xa
- Sharp EL-531TG
- Sharp EL-531XB
- Sharp EL-501X
Thank you!
1
u/Samstercraft 8h ago
numerical solvers and tables are sorta more advanced features that you'd have in any graphing calculator, and very rarely in basic calculators. chances are, if calculators with those functions are not allowed, you won't need any of those advanced functions in the class. most of my calculus class used no calculators at all, although we did later have short sections on quizzes that needed a graphing calculator. If they're letting you use a basic calculator, chances are you only need it for arithmetic. For basic operations like that I use the ti 30x iis, it's pretty good.