Using a Calculator

What is Using a Calculator?

The disciplined use of a scientific calculator: entering a whole expression with brackets rather than in separate pieces, retaining unrounded values throughout, checking that the angle mode matches the question, and translating the display back into the units and form the context requires. It is a judgement skill rather than a keying skill, and Paper 1 does not assess it because that paper is taken without a calculator.

This definition is part of the Number chapter in Cambridge O Level Mathematics (Syllabus D).

Concepts related to Using a Calculator

• bracket discipline
• answer memory
• degrees mode
• premature rounding