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I find that much of the time I want WolframAlpha for when basic arithmetic, because I like the way it tracks and converts units. It's such a simple way to check

I find that much of the time I want WolframAlpha for when basic arithmetic, because I like the way it tracks and converts units. It's such a simple way to check that my calculation isn't completely off base. If I forget to square something or I multiply when I meant to divide I get an obviously wrong answer. Plus of course not having to do even more arithmetic when one site gives me kilograms and another gives me ounces.

Aachen 2y ago
qalc also tracks and converts units, and is open source (practical benefit: runs offline). I have it on Android via a Debian subsystem but just checked and Termux simply has it also (pkg install qalc) Random example off the top of my head to show off some features: say it takes 5 minutes to get to space, and I heard you come around every 90 minutes, but there's differing definitions on whether space is 80 or 100 km above the surface, then if you're curious about the G forces during launch: (2*pi*(6350+ 90±10)km / 90 minutes) / 5 minutes to gees ((2 × pi × ((6350 + 90±10) kilometers)) / (90 minutes)) / (5 minutes) ≈ 2.5470±0.0040 gees (the output has color coding for units, constants, numbers, and operators) It understands unicode plusminus for uncertainty tracking, units, function calls like log(n,base), find factors, it will do currencies too if you let it download a table from the internet... I love this software package. (No affiliation, just a happy user who discovered this way too late in life) It's not as clever as WolframAlpha, no natural language parsing or Pokédex functions (sometimes I do wish that it knew things like Earth radii), but it also runs anywhere and never tells you the computation took too long and so was cancelled Edit: I just learned there's now also an Android app! https://github.com/jherkenhoff/qalculate-android https://github.com/jherkenhoff/qalculate-android | https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jherkenhoff.qalculate/ https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jherkenhoff.qalculate/ I've checked before and there wasn't back then, so this is cool. This version says it supports graph plotting which the command-line version doesn't do
- Magnap 2y ago
  Qalculate! has been my go-to calculator on my laptop for years, very happy to have it on my phone now too! And it definitely knows planet radii, try `planet("earth"; "radius")`. Specifically, it knows a bunch of attributes about atoms (most importantly to me, their atomic mass) and planets (including niche things like mean surface temperature). You can see all the data here: https://qalculate.github.io/manual/qalculate-definitions-functions.html#qalculate-definitions-functions-1-Data-Sets https://qalculate.github.io/manual/qalculate-definitions-fun...
  - Aachen 2y ago
    Woot! I need to read the docs better! Thanks for sharing that :D

Aachen 2y ago

qalc also tracks and converts units, and is open source (practical benefit: runs offline). I have it on Android via a Debian subsystem but just checked and Termux simply has it also (pkg install qalc) Random example off the top of my head to show off some features: say it takes 5 minutes to get to space, and I heard you come around every 90 minutes, but there's differing definitions on whether space is 80 or 100 km above the surface, then if you're curious about the G forces during launch: (2*pi*(6350+ 90±10)km / 90 minutes) / 5 minutes to gees ((2 × pi × ((6350 + 90±10) kilometers)) / (90 minutes)) / (5 minutes) ≈ 2.5470±0.0040 gees (the output has color coding for units, constants, numbers, and operators) It understands unicode plusminus for uncertainty tracking, units, function calls like log(n,base), find factors, it will do currencies too if you let it download a table from the internet... I love this software package. (No affiliation, just a happy user who discovered this way too late in life) It's not as clever as WolframAlpha, no natural language parsing or Pokédex functions (sometimes I do wish that it knew things like Earth radii), but it also runs anywhere and never tells you the computation took too long and so was cancelled Edit: I just learned there's now also an Android app! https://github.com/jherkenhoff/qalculate-android https://github.com/jherkenhoff/qalculate-android | https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jherkenhoff.qalculate/ https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jherkenhoff.qalculate/ I've checked before and there wasn't back then, so this is cool. This version says it supports graph plotting which the command-line version doesn't do

Magnap 2y ago
Qalculate! has been my go-to calculator on my laptop for years, very happy to have it on my phone now too! And it definitely knows planet radii, try `planet("earth"; "radius")`. Specifically, it knows a bunch of attributes about atoms (most importantly to me, their atomic mass) and planets (including niche things like mean surface temperature). You can see all the data here: https://qalculate.github.io/manual/qalculate-definitions-functions.html#qalculate-definitions-functions-1-Data-Sets https://qalculate.github.io/manual/qalculate-definitions-fun...
- Aachen 2y ago
  Woot! I need to read the docs better! Thanks for sharing that :D