Technical Description – Calculator
Calculator: A Technical Description
Md Foysal
Maryam Alikhani
English 21007 Writing for Engineering
4/16/2018
Table of Contents
Poem………………………………………………………………………………………………3
Introduction……………………………….……………………………….……………………4
Parts……………………………….……………………………….……………………………6
Characteristics……………………………….……………………………….…………………8
How to use it……………………………….……………………………….……………………8
The Process Within……………………………….……………………………….……………8
Conclusion……………………………….……………………………….……………………10
References……………………………….……………………………….……………………11
Our Problem Solver
With the click of a few buttons
With the accuracy of a marksman
You solve our problems at the speed of light
How you interpret our warm human touch
Into 0’s and 1’s
Without any fuss
Easing the burden of complex math
With the click of a few buttons
It’s solved in a flash
Introduction
We’ve all used it at some point in our life during math class. A pocket size device that can calculate almost anything with the push of a few buttons. A calculator, one of man’s greatest invention that has seen many transformations before becoming the pocket size genius we know today. It all started with the creation of the abacus, a hand operated mechanical structure that used rods and beams (The Calculator). It was made around 2000 BC by the Sumerians and stuck with us for thousands of years and it was only useful for basic addition and subtraction however that in itself was a huge improvement to the bartering system and provided a basis for keeping track of resources (The Calculator). Then in the 17th century came the slide ruler, invented by William Oughtred, which used a greater scale known as logarithmic to allow for a more advanced range of calculations such as multiplication, division, exponents, roots, etc. (The Calculator). As the years went by inventions took a turn towards more mechanical aspects involving gears and automaton. Charles Thomas invented the arithmometer, known as one of the first ever counting machines out in the 1800s (The Calculator). It was a fully operational machine but not the most portable. And as time progressed the button pushing era came and calculators became increasingly portable like the Curta calculator which could literally fit in your pocket, which was named after the inventor Curt Herzstark (The Calculator). However, all these inventions were like the paleolithic era of calculating. The 20th century brought forth a new era of calculators by utilizing computer technology. The truly first all-electric compact calculator was produced in the 1950s by none other than Casio, a very popular company that sells calculators (EdTech). It wasn’t the most portable, but it was just one of the first stepping stones toward evolved calculators. Eventually, by the 1970s microprocessors and computer technology improved to the point where calculators were common and were more affordable and portable (EdTech). And ever since then they just kept improving by adding visual effects such as graphs, or even playing games on graphing calculators! As technology improves, so do calculators.
Figure 1: The Abacus, the first “calculator” (Computer History).
The type of calculator that’ll be described is a simple scientific calculator, like the Casio FX-570ES Plus. It can help produce general mathematical concepts from simple arithmetic to trigonometry and general scientific functions. It speeds up the process of problem solving with the click of a few buttons.
Figure 2: Inside of a Casio FX-570ES Plus (Explain That Stuff).
Parts
The input is the bridge between us and the machine that connects us through rubbery keys that get squashed whenever pressed and activate sensors which send electrical signals to an inner circuit board to communicate with the device (Explain That Stuff).
Figure 3: Calculator exterior compared to inside button (Explain That Stuff).
The processor, also known as the brain of the device, is a tiny silicon microchip that computes all the functions with the help of registers, data storage areas in the processor, and the use of binary code which allows the processor to understand the numbers being pressed (Wonderopolis).
Where there is an input there is surely an output. These days, calculators use liquid crystal display, long for LCD (Explain That Stuff). LCD display is basically the window that shows you what you are inputting and the result of those inputs.
And finally, the one that makes the whole device run, the power source. The power source tends to be either small chip lithium batteries, or solar powered cells (Explain That Stuff). For the Casio FX-570ES Plus, a lithium battery is present.
Characteristics (Casio EU)
- Dimensions (H x B x D): 162.0 x 80.0 x 13.8 mm (Portable size)
- Weight: 100g (Comparable to a smartphone)
- 417 functions
- Basic scientific functions
How to use it (Simple arithmetic example):
- First, you must turn on the calculator by pressing the power button.
- Next, press any combination of number keys (0-9) as long as it doesn’t surpass the limit of that can be displayed, because the screen can hold only a limited display a limited amount of digits.
- Then, press any of the following operation keys: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (x), division (÷).
- After, press another combination of number keys (0-9) as the second number.
- Finally, hit enter and the calculator will take both numbers and do the operation that you chose.
Let’s say you chose 20,938 as your first number and you wish to multiply it with 45 then you get the result 942,210.
The Process within
When you click a button a on a calculator, it gets squashed. There is a pocket of space beneath the rubbery exterior and an undercover button. So, when you click a button it creates an electrical contact between the two layers; it’s like a cushion that you sit on. The electrical current gets detected by circuit which in turn informs the brains of the operation, the processor (How Stuff Works). The processor then displays whatever number you until you press an operation key, such as addition, subtraction, etc. This is where registers, or small banks of memory are used, they keep the information of the first number in one register then the information of the other number. When you are ready to press the equal button, it basically takes both contents of those registers and does the operation to them (Explain That Stuff). But how does it understand what we pressed, and how does it perform the operations and such? It uses integrated circuits called chips which use something called transistors; think of transistors as gates that open and close based off a signal (How Stuff Works). These transistors allow the device to add and subtract, multiply and divide, and even more advanced operations but it depends on how many transistors there are; the more the more powerful it is (How Stuff Works). The way they communicate to these gates is through binary. Binary is a language used by electronic devices that translate our system of numbers into 0’s and 1’s. Binary is perfect for electronic devices because it can represent any number with switches either being turned on or off (Wonderopolis). So once the calculations have been finished, the binary is then converted back to decimal form and displayed on the LCD screen. The way the calculator emits the digits is using pixels (Explain That Stuff). Pixels are basically tiny dots that are used to display things on computers, TVs, etc. There are seven segments for each digit on the display. The processor can manipulate these seven segments to show any of the numbers from 0-9, even letters (Explain That Stuff).
Figure 4: The digits shown in a calculator with seven segments (William Armstrong).
Conclusion
The calculator has come a long way from barely being able to compute simple addition and subtraction practically to being able to graph 3d surfaces. It has helped bring about many advances in science, technology, and especially mathematics. The application of concepts in the tip of your fingers allowed for many students to grasp the material. And not only has it been used in the field of mathematics, but it has been available in numerous different applications. There are calculators out there for weight-loss, calculating loans, the impact you make on your environment through carbon footprints, etc. (How Stuff Works). We are at a period where we can find a multitude of calculators online within seconds. Engineers continue to advance calculators and make them even more widely available. At this rate calculators could possibly predict future events, solve even more complicated problems that we have yet to grasp, and even more. Calculators have been around for a very long-time and is still at the forefront of the technological breakthrough era we currently live in.
References
Armstrong, William.. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://williamarmstrong.com/brain/logicL2.html
Akanegbu, A., A., Ribeiro, R., R., Google, & BizTech. (2012, November 20). Calculating Firsts: A Visual History of Calculators. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/11/calculating-firsts-visual-history-calculators
Clifton, J. (2010, February 10). How Calculators Work. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/other-gadgets/calculator3.htm
Computer History Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/calculators/1/1
FX-570ES Plus | Technical & scientific calculator | School and graphic calculators | Products | CASIO. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://www.casio-europe.com/euro/products/school-and-graphic-calculators/technical-scientific-calculator/fx-570esplus/
How do calculators work?? (2018, March 29). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://www.explainthatstuff.com/calculators.html
How Does a Calculator Work? (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-does-a-calculator-work
The History of the Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/articles/units/history-of-the-calculator.php
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