Solving
Physics Problems with your TI 83 Calculator
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)
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.
Add: 8.1
x 106 + 4.2 x 105
Type: 8.1
[EE] 6 [+] 4.2 [EE] 5
Displayed answer: 8.52E6
Numerical answer: 8.52 x 106
= 8,520,000
Subtraction
Subtract: 6.2
x 10-3 – 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
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
Divide: 
Type: 6
[EE] 8 [
] 2 [EE] 10
Displayed answer: 3E-2
Numerical answer: 3 x 10-2
= 0.03
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?
Answers to Sample Physics Problems
1) Calculate
gravitational force via Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation
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
2) Calculate
Coloumb Force via Coloumb's Law:
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
3) 
Hz
Type
in: 3
[EE] 8 [X] 5 [EE] -7
Calculator
display: 3E8/5E-7
Displayed answer: 6E14
Numerical
answer: 6.0 x 1014
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
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
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:
However if a student mistakenly types 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:
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.
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