4 ms·
Why is there not a Square Root button in calc.exe?
- tedreed 16y agoI was going to say that this applies only to old versions of calc, but the calc.exe in W7 has a cube root button, and also a generic y root of x button... but no sqrt. O_o
- redraga 16y agoThere is a sqrt button in calc in Windows 7. It's on the right side, just above the % button.
- argsv 16y agoIt's a while since I used PowerCalc but I think it's a good replacement for calc.exe for WinXP http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppow... some other nice tools there too.
- ghjghj 16y agoFor the benefit of those that don't know: raise to the power of 0.5 instead (x^y button, 0.5, enter). edit: Doh! That's what the linked page says. In my defense I have a horrible connection tonight and it didn't load until just now :) edit 2: Lol@ the itchy trigger-finger. Isn't that what the downvote karma limit is for? :)
- user24 16y agoAnother interesting calc.exe quirk: On "Standard" view, type: 1 + 2 * 3 = Answer comes back as 9 Switch to "Scientific" view and type the same, Answer comes back as 7 The reason (of course) is operator precedence; in standard mode it's interpreted as "1 + 2 =" then "* 3 =", while in scientific view it respects BODMAS. But to me it's counter-intuitive that changing the View also changes the Mode of operation. If they'd just named that menu "Mode" instead of "View" I'd be fine with it.
- andrerobot 16y agoI've used cheap scientific calculators that perform operations from left to right. It's awful when you are answering a uni exam and you don't know why the results you get looks fishy. On computer calculators, I always type "1 + 2 * 3 =" as "2 * 3 =", "+ 1 =" because I learned the hard way that I can't asume that a calculator is going to respect order of precedence or not.
- sprout 16y agoI think the first calculator I used was one of those. It took me till college and programming before I really properly learned precedence because I never trusted any calculator I was using, and always used parentheses. This also kind of influences my programming, probably for the better - I would rather use parens and be clear than be ambiguous and trust that my interpreter and I agree on what has proper precedence.
- dchest 16y agoMac OS X Calculator gives 7 in any mode. Wow, thanks for the information.
- jacquesm 16y agoThe 9 is just plain wrong. Operator precedence is not a scientific thing, that's a grade school thing.
- japaget 16y agoI'm running calc.exe on Windows XP, and while it is true that there is no square root button, square roots may be calculated using Inv x^2. The Inv checkbox also enables cube roots (Inv x^3), exponentials (Inv ln and Inv log), and the usual inverse trig functions.
- timrobinson 16y agoYou find this out by right-clicking the x^2 button and clicking What's This. The popup explains the Inv^2 trick -- to my recollection it's been like that since Windows 95.
- juanefren 16y agoIf a person doesn't know that sqrt is 1^(1/2) probably (just probably...) that person would never need to use sqrt...
- s-phi-nl 16y agoI disagree. One can use square roots to find the roots of quadratic equations (for example the equation for the velocity of a projectile) without needing to know that sqrt(x)=x^1/2.
- bugsy 16y agoThis really gets to usability. Most scientific calculators I have owned have a y^x key AND a √ key. Most have a cube root key as well. √ is a very common operation and with its own key can on many models be applied to a result with a single key press (it often works immediately and the = is not even necessary.) y^x to indicate square root can be applied to a result with ^,0,.,5,= -> 5 key presses, or 4 if continuing without having to finalize the calculation. Given that √ is a common operation, 4 or 5 key presses for it is pretty ineffective compared to 1 key press.