Calculator .. the 'o' key?? Mathematicians ...?

britboy4321 · 6 Apr 2010 at 14:59

Load up calculator on Windows (start --> run 00> calc). Don't press any numbers.

Press the letter 'o'

the number '1' appears (!!)

Press the letter 'o' a load more times. A different sequence of numbers appears for a while, then stops!.

For 10 points and a chance to go for the car, what does the 'o' button do in the application 'calculator' in windows? I ain't got the foggiest!

Masterdog · 6 Apr 2010 at 15:01

It's the cos(ine) button. To do with graphs. I'm sure a mathematician will be along with a fuller explanation.

Hxc · 6 Apr 2010 at 15:01

o does cos(ans)

britboy4321 · 6 Apr 2010 at 15:03

OK thanks guys.

/thread

meghatronic · 6 Apr 2010 at 15:37

I dislike the fact the scientific mode has no SQRT button and you need to x^y 0.5. RAGE.

frying_pan_cat · 6 Apr 2010 at 16:37

meghatronic said:
I dislike the fact the scientific mode has no SQRT button and you need to x^y 0.5. RAGE.

It's right here for me

meghatronic · 6 Apr 2010 at 16:39

frying_pan_cat said:
It's right here for me

Well la di da Mr. Fancy Windows.

Blue Cypher · 6 Apr 2010 at 16:42

meghatronic said:
Well la di da Mr. Fancy Windows.

Haha, i take it your not posh enough for one of those

meghatronic · 6 Apr 2010 at 16:44

Blue Cypher said:
Haha, i take it your not posh enough for one of those

I do have a copy of Win7 lying around here (free one from work). I just haven't got round to installing it as my system has been rock solid stable for years. Although.... there is that sqrt button.....

KaHn · 6 Apr 2010 at 16:48

Help said:
Using keyboard equivalents of Calculator buttonsThe following is an alphabetical list of Calculator buttons and their keyboard equivalents. You can print this list by clicking the Options menu, and then clicking Print. When using Calculator, you can see any Calculator button's keyboard equivalent by right-clicking the button, and then clicking What's This?.

Button Key Button Key
% % Hyp h
( ( Int ;
) ) Inv i
* * ln n
+ + log l
+/- F9 Lsh <
- - M+ CTRL+P
. . or , MC CTRL+L
/ / Mod %
0-9 0-9 MR CTRL+R
1/x r MS CTRL+M
= ENTER n! !
A-F A-F Not ~
And & Oct F7
Ave CTRL+A Or |(pipe)
Backspace BACKSPACE pi p
Bin F8 Qword F12
Byte F4 Radians F3
C ESC s CTRL+D
CE DEL sin s
cos o sqrt @
Dat INS Sta CTRL+S
Dec F6 Sum CTRL+T
Degrees F2 tan t
dms m Word F3
Dword F2 Xor ^
Exp x x^2 @
F-E v x^3 #
Grads F4 x^y y
Hex F5

KaHn

KaHn · 6 Apr 2010 at 16:49

meghatronic said:
Well la di da Mr. Fancy Windows.

Or most people would know its the same as x^0.5

KaHn

Haircut · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:05

meghatronic said:
I dislike the fact the scientific mode has no SQRT button and you need to x^y 0.5. RAGE.

That's what the 'Inv' checkbox is for.

Click 3, Inv, x^2 and it does sqrt(3).
Still not brilliant, but fewer clicks/keystrokes than doing ^ 0.5

meghatronic · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:14

meghatronic said:
I dislike the fact the scientific mode has no SQRT button and you need to x^y 0.5. RAGE.

KaHn said:
Or most people would know its the same as x^0.5

Am I missing something?

Amleto · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:25

Haircut said:
That's what the 'Inv' checkbox is for.

Click 3, Inv, x^2 and it does sqrt(3).
Still not brilliant, but fewer clicks/keystrokes than doing ^ 0.5

not on mine it doesnt. it just show inverse trig (etc) functions

Tefal · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:46

Haircut said:
That's what the 'Inv' checkbox is for.

Click 3, Inv, x^2 and it does sqrt(3).
Still not brilliant, but fewer clicks/keystrokes than doing ^ 0.5

nope still just Squares it, just changes the tig stuff.

SourChipmunk · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:47

lolbritboy

Haircut · 6 Apr 2010 at 18:36

Amleto said:
not on mine it doesnt. it just show inverse trig (etc) functions

Tefal said:
nope still just Squares it, just changes the tig stuff.

Hmm, well I've tried it on XP and Vista and it works fine for me on both of those.

The help pages even say it works for the power functions

Calculator Help said:
Inv
Sets the inverse function for sin, cos, tan, PI, x^y, x^2, x^3, ln, log, Ave, Sum, and s. The functions automatically turn off the inverse function after a calculation is completed.

x^2
Squares the displayed number. To calculate the square root, use Inv+x^2.

x^3
Cubes the displayed number. To calculate the cube root, use Inv+x^3.

x^y
Computes x raised to the yth power. Use this button as a binary operator. For example, to find 2 raised to the 4th power, click 2 x^y 4 =, which equals 16. To calculate the yth root of x, use Inv+x^y.

Tefal · 6 Apr 2010 at 18:37

win 7 here

Haircut · 6 Apr 2010 at 18:40

Tefal said:
win 7 here

That explains it, Win 7 calc has separate buttons for sqrt, cube root and nth root so no surprises it doesn't need to do it using the Inv checkbox on there

Tefal · 6 Apr 2010 at 18:45

Haircut said:
That explains it, Win 7 calc has separate buttons for sqrt, cube root and nth root so no surprises it doesn't need to do it using the Inv checkbox on there

so it does

Never used to be one so never even noticed it