
Why is there not a Square Root button in calc.exe? - duck
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/67184
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user24
Another interesting calc.exe quirk:

On "Standard" view, type:

1 + 2 * 3 =

Answer comes back as 9

Switch to "Scientific" view and type the same,

Answer comes back as 7

The reason (of course) is operator precedence; in standard mode it's
interpreted as "1 + 2 =" then "* 3 =", while in scientific view it respects
BODMAS.

But to me it's counter-intuitive that changing the View also changes the Mode
of operation.

If they'd just named that menu "Mode" instead of "View" I'd be fine with it.

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andrerobot
I've used cheap scientific calculators that perform operations from left to
right. It's awful when you are answering a uni exam and you don't know why the
results you get looks fishy.

On computer calculators, I always type "1 + 2 * 3 =" as "2 * 3 =", "+ 1 ="
because I learned the hard way that I can't asume that a calculator is going
to respect order of precedence or not.

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sprout
I think the first calculator I used was one of those. It took me till college
and programming before I really properly learned precedence because I never
trusted any calculator I was using, and always used parentheses.

This also kind of influences my programming, probably for the better - I would
rather use parens and be clear than be ambiguous and trust that my interpreter
and I agree on what has proper precedence.

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bugsy
This really gets to usability. Most scientific calculators I have owned have a
y^x key AND a √ key. Most have a cube root key as well. √ is a very common
operation and with its own key can on many models be applied to a result with
a single key press (it often works immediately and the = is not even
necessary.) y^x to indicate square root can be applied to a result with
^,0,.,5,= -> 5 key presses, or 4 if continuing without having to finalize the
calculation. Given that √ is a common operation, 4 or 5 key presses for it is
pretty ineffective compared to 1 key press.

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ghjghj
For the benefit of those that don't know: raise to the power of 0.5 instead
(x^y button, 0.5, enter).

edit: Doh! That's what the linked page says. In my defense I have a horrible
connection tonight and it didn't load until just now :)

edit 2: Lol@ the itchy trigger-finger. Isn't that what the downvote karma
limit is for? :)

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japaget
I'm running calc.exe on Windows XP, and while it is true that there is no
square root button, square roots may be calculated using Inv x^2. The Inv
checkbox also enables cube roots (Inv x^3), exponentials (Inv ln and Inv log),
and the usual inverse trig functions.

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timrobinson
You find this out by right-clicking the x^2 button and clicking What's This.
The popup explains the Inv^2 trick -- to my recollection it's been like that
since Windows 95.

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tedreed
I was going to say that this applies only to old versions of calc, but the
calc.exe in W7 has a _cube_ root button, and also a generic y root of x
button... but no sqrt. O_o

~~~
redraga
There is a sqrt button in calc in Windows 7. It's on the right side, just
above the % button.

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juanefren
If a person doesn't know that sqrt is 1^(1/2) probably (just probably...) that
person would never need to use sqrt...

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s-phi-nl
I disagree. One can use square roots to find the roots of quadratic equations
(for example the equation for the velocity of a projectile) without needing to
know that sqrt(x)=x^1/2.

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john3
I think you misunderstood

The point he or she was making was that a person that doesn't know that
sqrt(x)=x^1/2 probably wouldn't be calculating the for example velocity of a
projectile

~~~
juanefren
Exactly...

