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.

Sample physics problems

How to input scientific notation with your TI (shortcut)

Addition and subtraction

Multiplication

Division

TI order of operations

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

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Answers to Sample Physics Problems 1) N Type: 6.67 [EE] -11 [X] 9.11 [EE] -31 [X] 1.67 [EE] -27 [] 1 [EE] -10 [x^2] Calculator Display: 6.67E-11 * 9.11E-31 * 1.67E-27 / 1E-10^2 Displayed answer: 1.0E-47 Numerical answer: 1.0 x 10^-47 Back to Problems 2) N Type in: 8.99 [EE] 9 [X] 6.0 [EE] -6 [X] 3.0 [EE] -6 [] .030 [x^2] Calculator Display: 8.99E9 * 6.00E-6 * 3.00E-6 / .030^2 Displayed answer: 179.8 Numerical answer: 179.8 Back to Problems 3) Hz Type in: 3 [EE] 8 [X] 5 [EE] -7 Calculator display: 3E8/5E-7 Displayed answer: 6E14 Numerical answer: 6.0 x 10^14 Back to Problems 4) 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: Divide: 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: Hz 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: 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