Calculator
How Calculators Work
There may have been an era where the most complicated calculations people needed to do could be executed using their fingers or toes. But these days the world is so complex that it's difficult for most people to imagine performing any task that involves numbersfor everything from math assignments and tax return filings to tipping server in restaurants -- without the aid of at the very least a pocket calculator. Electronic calculators are so widespread now that it's difficult to believe that they didn't become ubiquitous until the last decade of the 20 century. century.
Before the invention of the modern calculator prior to the invention of the modern calculator, there were other tools to compute. The abacus is an example. It is one of the predecessors of the calculator. Probably it is of Babylonian origin The earliest abaci were believed to be boards on which the location of counters indicated the numerical value. However, the contemporary abacus -- which are still in use throughout China, Japan and the Middle East -- works by moving beads along wires connected to frames Source: Britannica: Abacus].
In the latter half of the century, there were people who performed calculations using motor-assisted mechanical adding machines. Other types of machines used math tables, and slides devices equipped with adjustable scales and graduated ones that, depending on what type you're using, can do anything from multiplication to trigonometry Source: Britannica: Slide Rule[source: Britannica: Slide Rule].
In the 1960s, advancements in integrated circuitry resulted in the development of electronic calculators, however, the first versions of these calculators -- made by companies like Sharp and Texas Instruments -- looked very little like the one you may be carrying around today in your backpack or briefcase.
To understand more about development of the electronic calculator and discover the way that consumer demand to use smaller calculators led the development of microchips that run the appliances we use 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
Several electronics companies and inventors could claim a first when it comes to the development of the electronic calculator. Japanese business Sharp is believed to have developed the first computer-based desktop calculator known as the CS-10A in 1964. It was similar to a cash register and cost equal to a mid-sized car [sources: Lewis, Sharp]. The year was 1967. Texas Instruments developed what is called the first handheld, portable calculator which was gadget that could perform subtraction to, subtraction, multiplication and division in a development that was named by the company "Cal Tech" [sources: Courier Mail, Texas Instruments].
Utilizing "Cal Tech" technology, Canon invented its first hand-held calculator intended for use in the commercial market, which debuted in 1970 with the cost 400 dollars [source: Texas Instruments]. The next decade was an up-and-down battle between manufacturers to develop calculators that were smaller, more user-friendly and less costly. As early as 1972 British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair introduced the Sinclair Executive, which is thought by many to be the world's first affordable pocket calculator [sources: The Press, Western Daily Pressand Western Daily Press. Its thickness was comparable to cigarettes.
These continuous advances regarding calculator technology were largely created by the advent of the single chip microprocessor in the latter half of the 1960s. Prior to this it was the engineers who built the "brains" of calculators (and computers) with multiple chips , or other components. In essence, a single-chip processor can allow a full central processing unit (CPU) to be housed within a silicon microchip. (To learn more about this type of technology, visit the article How Microprocessors function.)
Intel Corp. created the first commercially available single-chip microprocessor called The Intel 4004 -- in 1971 [sources: Behar, Intel]. It could perform basic arithmetic, storing 4 bits of information per second. However, Intel's cofounder, Gordon Moore, predicted that the capacity of one chip would double roughly every two years. This theory is referred to as "Moore's Law," and up to date, it has remained for the moment. In addition to becoming smaller over the years, they also developed more advanced apps (source: Intel].
Nowadays, in addition to newer versions of the standard pocket calculator, complex scientific and graphing calculators are available and used by professionals as well as students like engineers. A lot of them use widely-used computer languages and can be programmed according to the specifications of the user. In fact when Texas Instruments introduced its TI-92 model in 1995, it was described as"TI-92 "a calculator with the power of a computer lab" [source: Texas Instruments]. Numerous graphing and scientific calculators could be able of some of these functions:
- Switching from the usual base-ten to other number systems (hexadecimal counting, is an example of a system that is base-16)
- Utilizing scientific notation in order to calculate very large amounts
- By using trigonometric functions and logarithms directly
- Working with constants such pi and e can be done with an even greater degree of precision
- Utilizing complex numbers, fractions and formulas
- Solving equations
- The analysis of statistics
- Using larger screens to figure out formulas and graph equations
Check out our next chapter to find out how solar panels, circuit boards and some of the other components of a calculator.
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