Basic calculator help

Mathematical operations

The basic calculator supports arithmetic, fractions, powers, roots, logarithms and trigonometric functions. Results are shown as a fraction and a decimal when a suitable fraction is available. Trigonometric angles are in degrees.

Arithmetic and fractions

• Addition: 3 + 4 gives 7. Subtraction: 7 - 5 gives 2.
• Multiplication: 3 * 4 gives 12. Division accepts / or :: 2 : 5 gives 2/5 (0.4).
• Enter fractions as 2/3 and mixed numbers as 1 2/3. A mixed number is converted to a fraction: 1 2/3 = 5/3.
• Decimal results are converted to fractions where possible.

Powers and roots

• Use ^ for powers: 2^3 gives 8. Powers associate to the right: 2^3^2 gives 512.
• sqrt(x) is the square root. root(a, n) is the nth root: root(8, 3) gives 2 and root(-8, 3) gives -2.

Trigonometric functions

• sin(x), cos(x), tan(x) and cotan(x) use degrees.
• Tangent is undefined at 90° + k × 180°. Cotangent is undefined at k × 180°.
• arcsin(x), arccos(x), arctan(x) and arccotan(x) return angles in degrees. The inputs to arcsin and arccos must lie between -1 and 1.

Logarithms

• log(x) uses base 10; log(x, base) uses the given base.
• ln(x) is the natural logarithm. Logarithm arguments must be positive; the base must be positive and different from 1.

Writing expressions

• Implicit multiplication is supported: 3(4+5), (2+3)(4+1), 2pi and 2sin(30).
• Parentheses determine the order of evaluation.
• Constants include pi (also π) and e. Use abs(x) for absolute value.
• The alternative symbols ×, ·, ÷ and − are accepted.

Examples

Expression	Result
2 + 3 * 4	14
2 + 3 * (4 + 5)	29
2/3 + 1/4	11/12 (0.916666666667)
3/5 + 1 2/4	21/10 (2.1)
2^3 + 4^2	24

Limits

Division by zero, unknown functions and invalid notation produce an error. The basic calculator works with real numbers and does not return complex results. Each expression can contain at most 500 characters.

Open the basic calculator