Expert: Josh - 10/28/2007

Question
hi im using a scientiffic calculator its a SHARP EL-531WH and i have no idea
where the instruction book is and i dont know how to make it so that it shows
answers as x10^n

e.g. when i do (1400÷760) x 1.013 x 10^5 (using e5) i get the answer
186605.2632 when i want an answer 1.866 x 10^5

if you have any idea how i can make it do this pleaseeeee help thanks :)

Answer
I can offer two solutions to this problem.

1. Understanding what the scientific/engineering notation really means.

When you see a number like 2.4 x 10^3, the "10^3" part basically tells us to move the decimal point to the RIGHT by three places. When we run out of digits, we append a zero to the end. Step-by-step, we get 2.4 x 10^3 = 24 x 10^2 = 240 x 10^1 = 2400 x10^0 = 2400.
To convert a floating point decimal to the scientific notation, we shift the decimal to the LEFT one at a time, each time increasing the exponent in 10^(.) by one. Step-by-step, we get 186605.2632 = 18660.52632 x 10^1 = 1866.052632 x 10^2 = 186.6052632 x 10^3 = 18.6052632 x 10^4 = 1.86052632 x 10^5. Of course, you can reduce this to four significant figures and write the answer as 1.866 x 10^5.

The advantage here is that we understand what is going on and no longer have to rely on the calculator.

2. Refer to Operation Menu for Sharp EL-520W - close enough is good enough!
i) download PDF from http://search.sharp.co.jp/cgi-bin/infobee/bin/result.cgi
ii) go to page 5, column 1, item 2.
iii) see example.
iv) I think the keying sequence is [SETUP][1][1], check for yourself.