<p>Hey, I just ordered that calculator off of ebay for $55. It came with the manual. I have never usd a graphing calculator before, Im still in high school, have 2 months left. I figured I better get one and start learning how to use it now before I have to in college algebra. I NEED HELP!!!! lol The manual isnt helping.</p>
<p>Play around with it...you probably should have waited man..</p>
<p>My daughter has owned a TI-83 Plus graphing calculator for about a year and a half. She also found the accompanying user's manual to be confusing, so she bought a copy of TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator for Dummies by C.C. Edwards (Copyright 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana), which has provided her with clearer explanations of how to use the TI-83 Plus. My daughter reports that there are a number of TI-83 Plus "how to use" websites (some are better than others) which you can access online. The TI-83 Plus is similar to its predecessor, the TI-83, so although my daughter recommends the TI-83 Plus-specific Dummies book, she says that websites which explain how to use the TI-83 can be helpful for TI-83 Plus users, as well.</p>
<p>Best wishes.</p>
<p>Haha, I got a Ti-83 back in grade 9 (was doing 10th grade math which apparently needed a calculator with graphing functions for certain sections)...4 years later I'm still somewhat inept with it :P
As TimeCruncher said, there are some online tutorials (i.e. <a href="http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/papers/ti.html%5B/url%5D">http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/papers/ti.html</a>)</p>
<p>why don't you ask your high school teacher what some functions are for? I learned how to use mine at the same time I was taking AP Statistics and AP Calc., the teacher really guided us along as we learned the material.</p>
<p>You mean those things you can play Nibbles on?</p>
<p>you should be able to figure out how to do basic calculations, same as any other calculator. </p>
<p>following is for an 84 but should be roughly the same</p>
<p>Besides that, to graph something hit the y= button, and type in the equation into y1 (the equation has to be y = something so you will need to manipulate it to look like that if it doesn't already) then once you've done that go hit graph to see a graph of the equation. </p>
<p>table (2nd graph) will show you a table of the values. in tblset(2nd zoom)if you set independent to auto the table will start at the tblstart value above and increment by the number next to triangle tbl(triangle means change btw) if you set independent to ask you will manually put what x values you want it to tell you the y value of when in the table window. dependednt doesn't seem to do anything, just leave it at whatever the default is(on an 83 might not have independednt and dependent might just had auto and ask)</p>
<p>window lets you set what part of the graph it shows you in the graph window xmin is its leftmost number x max rightmost, ymin lowest ymax highest, basically the bounds of the cartesian plane it shows you, xscl and yscl are what number the lines it shows you go up by, xres has to do with the resolution, just keep it at 1 by default.</p>
<p>zoom lets you change the window with some rpeset defaults, 6 zstandard gives you the standard 10 by 10 which it should be in most of the time, 1 zbox lets you a draw a box to zoom in on, 2 and 3 soom in and out of the current screen, never used 4 so its probably not important, 5 keeps the ymin and max values the same as they are, and adjusts the xmin and max so that equal distance physically up and down represents the same thing(since the screen is 4:3 aspect ratio if its 10by10 number wise one will be wider left to right than up to down. 7 is for trig functions, won't need this till precalc most likely, just sets the xmin and xmax to -2pi and 2pi and ys to -4 and 4 and the xscale to .5pi zoom fit changes the window so it will show all important parts of the graph in question, use this when you have no idea what the graph looks like and what window to use, sometimes will give you a good window, sometimes a bad one. zoom stat is probably for statistics I don't remember.</p>
<p>when in a graph press trace to move the curser and see what point the curser is current at.
calc(2nd trace) lets you find things, about the current graphdon't worry abotu 6 or 7 those are calculus terms, 2 will find a zero, which is when the y value equals zero, where it crosses the x axis, it will tell you what the x value is at this point, when you hit it you will need to give it the left bound and the rigth bound and a guess at where the zero is. move the curser a little to the left of it and hti enter, then a littler to the right, then on top of it and it will give you the cordinate of the zero. minimum si for a local minumum(where ithe curve changes from going down to up) on a graph, maximum is for a local maximum(where the curve changes from going up to down. </p>
<p>I can't resist, quick calculus lesson here. The way the curve is headed if you drew a straight line in its direction at any point is called the derivative, if the curve is going down the derivative is negative, when curve is going up the derivaive is positive, if it changes from going down to up or vice versa it is zero. the way the curve is changing, as in if its getting steeper or less steep is the derivative of the derivative. Straight lines have a constant derivative as they maintain the same steepness, while curves derivatives change at every point as their steepness changes.</p>
<p>intersect in the calc menu finds the intersections of two graphs if you have multiple in the y= screen, first you pick which two line/curves you want to find the intersection of then you move the curser to where it is and it will give you the cordinate. value just gves you the y value at some x value.</p>
<p>Don't change anything in mode besides the clock, should be in function mode and degree since I doubt your using radians and when/if you start using parametric or polar cordinates your teacher will explain how to use your calculator for them</p>
<p>That should be most of what you need to know. The x,t,theta,n button will always give you an x unless you change the mode, you won't need any of the others unless your in a different mode, they are simply the independent variable of the equations for it to graph.</p>
<p>now one or two examples, if you want to graph 5x^3 go to the y= screen. in y1 first clear whatever is there and type 5 then hit the x,t,theta,n button then type ^ then type 3, they will show up right after y1= Then hit graph to see the graph. You can graph multiple equations by putting other ones in y2 y3 etc. it will show them all one on top of another in the graph window. Don't worry about log, ln, sin, cos, tan, and other such functions, you'll know what they do when you learn about them. Besides that just explore the various menus such as math, vars etc if you are curious. the math button has a lot of usefull functions, so just experiment with them, their name is usually self explanatory, if it isn't you won't be expected to know it yet.</p>
<p>Hope that helps, In class I use an 89 right now so my 83/84 knowledge may be a little rusty as I haven't used one in a while.</p>