Calculator
How Calculators Work
There might have been some time when the most complicated computations people had to complete could be executed using their fingers or toes. However, today it's almost impossible for most people to imagine doing anything involving numbers -from math homework to tax returns to tipping servers at restaurants -- with out the aid of at least a basic pocket calculator. Actually, electronic calculators are so widespread now that it's hard to believe they didn't become widespread until the latter half of the 20 century. century.
Before the advent and development of the contemporary calculator there were other tools for computation. The abacus for instance, is one of the predecessors of the calculator. Perhaps it is of Babylonian origin the earliest abaci were believed to be boards that had the position of counters stood for the numerical value. But the current abacus -- that are still in use in China, Japan and the Middle East -- works by transferring beads across wires connected to frames The source is Britannica: Abacus].
In the latter half of the century, some people performed calculations with motor-assisted mechanical addition machines. Others used mathematical tables as well as slide rulers -- instruments with adjustable, graduated scales which are, based on the kind you're using, will handle everything from trigonometry to multiplication Source: Britannica: Slide Rule].
In the 1960s, advances in integrated circuitry resulted in the electronic calculator, but the early versions of these calculators -- made by companies such as Sharp as well as Texas Instruments -- looked quite different from the ones you carry around today in your briefcase or backpack.
To learn more about the advancements of the electronic calculator -- and see how the demand from consumers of smaller-sized calculators lead to the invention of microchips which power our appliances every day , read on.
Advertisementhttps://fbe7c359baef375ed91a4619ee1bc775.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.htmlContents
- Evolution of the Electronic Calculator
- Calculator Components
- How a Calculator Calculates
- Impact of Calculator Technology
Evolution of the Electronic Calculator
Graphing calculators have many advanced functions, including solving and graphing equations.(c) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MBBIRDY
Numerous electronics companies as well as inventors may claim to have a first in the invention of the electronic calculator. Japanese firm Sharp is believed to have invented the first computer-based desktop calculator that was the CS-10A, in 1964. It was similar to a cash register and cost equal to a mid-sized car [sources: Lewis, Sharp]. A year later, Texas Instruments developed what was dubbed the first handheld, portable calculator (a gadget which could do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division -- as part of a project was nicknamed by the company "Cal Tech" [sources: Courier Mail, Texas InstrumentsThe Courier Mail and Texas Instruments.
Utilizing "Cal Tech" technology, Canon invented its first hand-held calculator that was designed for commercial use which debuted in 1970 with an initial price at $400 (source: Texas Instruments]. The next decade was an up-and-down battle between companies to design calculators that were smaller, more user-friendly and less costly. The year 1972 was when British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair introduced the Sinclair Executive, which is believed by many to be the world's first pocket calculator (sources: The Press, Western Daily Pressand Western Daily Press. Its size was comparable to a pack of cigarettes.
These continuous advances regarding calculator technology were created by the advent of the single-chip microprocessor in the latter half of the 1960s. Before that, engineers built the computing "brains" of calculators (and computers) that comprised multiple chips or other components. Basically, a single-chip microprocessor allows a whole central processing unit (CPU) to be located within a silicon microchip. (To learn more about this technology, check out the article How Microprocessors work.)
Intel Corp. created the first microprocessor with a single chip that was available commercially called it was called the Intel 4004 -- in 1971 [sources: Behar, Intel]. It was able of performing basic arithmetic and 4 bits of information at time. However, Intel's co-founder, Gordon Moore, predicted that the capabilities of one chip would increase by around 2 times per year. This theory is referred to as "Moore's Law," and as of today, it is true. While calculators did get smaller as they grew older, they became more capable of advanced apps (source: Intel].
Today, in addition to newer versions of the standard pocket calculator advanced graphing and scientific calculators are available and used by both students and professionals like engineers. Many of them are based on widely used computer languages and can be programmed in accordance with the needs of the user. In fact, when Texas Instruments introduced its TI-92 model in 1995, they referred to the model "a calculator with the power of a computer lab" [source: Texas Instruments]. A variety of graphing and scientific calculators could be able of several of these things:
- Transitioning from the traditional base-ten to different number systems (hexadecimal counting, is it a basis-16-based system)
- Using scientific notation to calculate extremely large numbers
- With the help of trigonometrics and logarithms directly
- Working with constants like pi and e to an even higher level of precision
- Utilizing complicated numbers, fractions and formulas
- Solving equations
- Analysis of statistics
- Utilizing larger screens to figure out graphs and formulas
Continue reading to in the following section, to learn information about the solar cell, circuit board, and some of the other components that comprise a calculator.
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