Oh dear - a puzzle for Christmas season - Dec 2023
Dec 16, 2023 15:02:13 #
petrochemist
Loc: UK
srt101fan wrote:
Again, I don't understand what your point is. If you enter the numbers in the "standard" calculator and get 35 you're not entering them correctly - operator error.
You think that because you can't be sure if a random calculator does things right you should have to always add unnecessary brackets to force it to do things right? This is what I've ended up doing on many occasions it's a pain!
I can understand the most primitive calculators not being able to store the sequence of operations to get things right, but when done on a computer there is no excuse.
It should not be necessary for the operator to know math, for software to give the technically correct answer.
Dec 16, 2023 15:16:58 #
petrochemist wrote:
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It should not be necessary for the operator to know math, for software to give the technically correct answer.
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It should not be necessary for the operator to know math, for software to give the technically correct answer.
Just as long as the formula is entered in the correct format for the computer (computational device) that is used.
Dec 16, 2023 15:25:36 #
BebuLamar wrote:
I currently have HP-10B, HP-20S, HP32SII, HP12C, HP-41CV, HP41CX Option 1, HP-48SX, HP-48GX, HP-50G.
WOW !! And I thought I was a pack-rat !! My first HP was the HP-35 - and I wish I still had it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-35
It was well worth the price during my last 2 undergrad and 2 graduate years of Electrical Engineering.
Dec 16, 2023 16:01:15 #
BebuLamar wrote:
With Windows 10 and 11 calculator you have 35 with the standard mode. You have 19 with scientific and programmer mode.
Yes, I see what is happening now. It is not a problem with the calculator, it is a problem with how the argument is entered. The calculator is simply calculating as you enter the data. I thought it was a problem with the calculator. It is not. The calculator cannot read your mind, (the scientific calculator does take the rules into consideration) it is simply regurgitating the info as input.
Dec 16, 2023 16:01:45 #
Merlin1300 wrote: WOW !! And I thought I was a pack-rat !!
My first HP was the HP-35 - and I wish I still had it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-35
It was well worth the price during my last 2 undergrad and 2 graduate years of Electrical Engineering.
WOW !! And I thought I was a pack-rat !! My first HP was the HP-35 - and I wish I still had it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-35
It was well worth the price during my last 2 undergrad and 2 graduate years of Electrical Engineering.
Oh well I forgot that I bought the HP8925b for $5, played with it for a couple years. Broke the tape drive so I sold it for $150. A retired chief engineer gave me the HP97 and I also used it for a few years and again broke the card reader and sold it also for $150. So I am not a pack rat you know.
Dec 16, 2023 17:02:11 #
BebuLamar wrote:
but why the scientific calculator gets the correct answer just by entering the same sequence?
OK, you got me; maybe the scientific calculator incorporates a little of the dreaded - dare I say it - AI?
Dec 16, 2023 17:08:33 #
srt101fan wrote:
OK, you got me; maybe the scientific calculator incorporates a little of the dreaded - dare I say it - AI?
Nah, just programmed differently.
Dec 16, 2023 17:50:02 #
srt101fan wrote:
OK, you got me; maybe the scientific calculator incorporates a little of the dreaded - dare I say it - AI?
Rigid rules not AI. I believed in the early days of calculator before 1975 or so most calculators just did it left to right and no precedent. When scientific calculators came out they needed to have parentheses keys to specify the order of operation. HP with its RPN you need no such thing and TI would argue that their calculators implement the precedent rules and thus don't really need the parentheses. As I see most of the calculators now implement such rules.
Personally I prefer the RPN and when I have to use an algelbraic calculator I always use the brackets so I am not sure which calculators would have such rules or not.
Dec 17, 2023 13:00:53 #
twosummers wrote:
Hi there puzzlers - have1 a go at this one - suggest an answer but DON'T give your method (I want to keep people guessing for a bit) - I'll post the solution in a few days time!
Enjoy
Enjoy
=12
Dec 17, 2023 16:29:36 #
Dec 17, 2023 16:32:19 #
Dec 17, 2023 16:56:34 #
Dec 17, 2023 17:09:56 #
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Dec 17, 2023 17:45:09 #
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