Just got a ti-89 ti.

<p>Four days to the test and I need to become comfy with it. Anything I can do besides reading the manual?</p>

<p>Same kilini. Let's learn it together =)</p>

<p>OK. =) </p>

<p>I don't know why people say it's intuitive and user friendly. All the buttons are SCARY.</p>

<p>Do you have a screenname?</p>

<p>In what? AIM?</p>

<p>Yah, in AIM</p>

<p>I do. I think it's either useoperanow or kilini, but I currently don't have a client. It'll take me five minutes or less to get one, though. =)</p>

<p>Try the tips suggested in the TI Calc thread. Also which calculator were you using before? A graphing or other calculator?</p>

<p>Scientific. Which also had stuff I didn't understand.</p>

<p>Oh boy, do I regret not learning the calculators now.</p>

<p>I was using an 83, but got convinced</p>

<p>I'm guessing you've never had a TI-89 before. </p>

<p>Well, you need to learn the good stuff. </p>

<p>F2 is a valuable menu.
You can do a lot of things there. </p>

<p>To solve, go to F2, press enter on the solve function, and type in any question. </p>

<p>Example:
solve(x^2=6x+9, x) </p>

<p>[hit enter]</p>

<p>answer will be -3 (sqrootof 17 - 4) OR 3(sqrootof 17 + 4)
You can get a decimal answer by pressing green diamond, then enter again.
You should get -.369317 or 24.3693</p>

<p>(by the way, you can go to the menu and adjust how many decimal places the answer will go up to, by changing the float in "mode")</p>

<p>Now to factor, put in anything using the factor program from F2. </p>

<p>To solve systems of equations, you put in your equation, separate using "and" (from the catalog), and solve for ONE VARIABLE only. All values will come up. </p>

<p>There are so many things you can do with this calculator.</p>

<p>welcome to the ti89 club. I made the switch this year for calculus.</p>

<p>I don't regret it. In fact, I pity those who use the 83 now :)</p>

<p>Anything else that will benefit me on the SAT? Also is there a quadratic forumula anywhere on there?</p>

<p>Wow is all I can say. I was going to just buy it for the SAT, but now I'm not so sure...</p>

<p>Strangely, I got -3(square root of 2 -1) for the example equation, sarorah.</p>

<p>The quadratic solver can be found under "zeros" in F2 I believe.</p>

<p>Graphing might be important. Go to the Y Function menu (can access it when you first turn on the calc or by clicking green diamond then F1 when you're in the home screen) </p>

<p>You'll have a {Y=} and you can graph anything after that. Then go to F2, and try looking at the graph under Zoom Standard (F2, and then 6) or under Zoom Squared (F2 and then 5), or you can ZOom In, zoom out, or magnify a certain part of the graphy using the Zoom Box feature. Make two corners where you want to zoom in, and then click enter. </p>

<p>F3 is generally the menu for calculus. </p>

<p>You can do sine, cos sine, tangent, and the opposites of those by using the green diamond key or the 2nd key and clicking Y, Z, T. You can also do common logarithms. (use log( from the catolog) </p>

<p>Check out the math menu: 2nd, number key 5. That's where you get some matrix stuff you can do, combinations, factorial, permutations, tons of stuff.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, the example equation..I changed it but didn't change the post. It's solve(x^2= 24x + 9, x)
Sorry :o</p>

<p>Anyone who has taken practice tests from the College Board blue book, has anyone found any questions that the Ti-89 helps you on that say an 83 wouldn't? Looking for practice</p>

<p>It's OK. Now I've got it. :) Thanks!</p>