AboutSteve Holleran Expertise I can help with all math questions from basic math to Calculus.
Whether it`s consumer questions, or questions from high school or college students, I have probably dealt with it at some time in my career.
Experience 33 years teaching experience in NJ public schools
Education/Credentials B.S. Mathematics : Wake Forest University 1972
M.S. Mathematics : Monmouth University 1981
Question How can I calculate the following on a regular calculator. (one without a "power" button)
1.33 to the .2 power
In other words, 1.33 to the 3rd power would look like 1.33x1.33x1.33=2.352637.
But how do I do that when the power is a decimal?
Answer Hi Kirk,
Well, if your calculator doesn't even have a power key, you can't do this without using tables of logarithms.
To compute your example, 1.33^(0.2), you'd have to proceed like this:
x = 1.33^(0.2)
log x = log[1.33^(0.2)]
log x = 0.2 * log 1.33
Then, you'd have to have access to a table of logarithms, look up the base 10 log of 1.33 (which is 0.1239) and then you have
log x = 0.2 * 0.1239 = 0.02478
and x = 10^(0.02478)
Now this can be done using the tables again, but finding the antilog 0.02478
This is a real bear of a technique. Having access to a Simple scientific calculator would immensely make this easy!
