<p>How beneficial, if at all, would it be to learn the workings of the TI-83/84 for use with math problems on the SAT?</p>
<p>Very, very, very, very, very VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY helpful.</p>
<p>You don’t really need a calculator on the math sections because the difficulty only goes up to Algebra I. Yes, it would help compute basic math faster, but other than that it doesn’t help much. Formulas you need to know are on the front page, no need to type them into the calculator.
I didn’t really use my (scientific, not graphing) calculator on the test, I only used it to check my work at the end.</p>
<p>The calculator saves time, that’s really all it does. Like Jumper101 says, basically all of the problems can be solved without the use of a calculator, although it might take a long time if you’re slow at hand calculations/mental math </p>
<p>I use it as a clock as well on the math sections because my proctor didn’t have a clock in the room and I freaked out because I couldn’t tell what time it was. And then I was like “Oh! my calculator!” and that pretty much saved my life xDD</p>
<p>whoa…where does the calculator state the time? haha! I’ve used it for a long time and I was never aware of this.</p>
<p>^If you press the mode button, you’ll see the time and the date at the very bottom
It’ll say something like
[set clock][date][time]
Most useful thing ever when you’re bored in class and there’s no clock in the room haha</p>
<p>how’d you keep time on CR and W ???</p>
<p>I probably only used my calculator three or four times on the January 2010 SAT. It saved me less than thirty seconds.</p>
<p>thepotato, I didn’t need to keep time on CR and W because I usually finish those on time. In math, unless I don’t pace myself, I end up taking my time on certain problems. Time is my biggest issue on math sections, if I had like an hour on each section, I’m pretty sure I could get a 100% xDDD</p>
<p>^ oh, i’m exactly the opposite; finish 10 min early on math, rush on CR</p>
<p>It seems that the clock is only available on select models. I had a Ti-83 plus last year, and it had the clock. This year, same brand, different calculator – torturous!! </p>
<p>Jumper, what if I plug in the formulas and the numbers into the calc, knowing the codes and shortcuts and whatnot. Think it will save time AND give me a correct answer? I’m taking geometry now, hence I asked…and my SAT is fast approaching. :P</p>
<p>The SAT math is just a matter of knowing WHICH formulas or techniques TO use. Sure, you can plug in the formulas into the calculator, but your best bet is to memorize them because you go faster that way. Only problem putting into the calculator is that you might type a wrong number and since you rely solely on your calculator for your answer, you’d get the problem wrong. Memorize basic stuff: area of triangle, special right triangles, area of circle etc…no need to go into stuff like: Perimeter/2 X square root of (s-x)(s-y)(s-z)=area, for instance. The polygons are made up of obvious basic shapes: triangle and square and circle. As long as you know how to solve for those basic things, you are fine.</p>
<p>I suppose you’re right. Thank you</p>
<p>Real T.H.U.G.S dont need calculators 
lol</p>
<p>T.h.u.g.s ?</p>
<p>yeah i forgot my calc on sat day i did fine</p>