Calculator
How Calculators Work
There may have been times when the most complicated computations people needed to conduct could have been performed on their fingers and toes. However, nowadays it's almost impossible for many to imagine doing anything involving numbers -from math homework from tax forms to tipping servers in restaurants without the aid of at least a basic pocket calculator. Indeed, electronic calculators are now so commonplace that it's difficult to believe that they didn't become popular until the end of the 20 century. century.
Before the advent of the modern calculator prior to the invention of the modern calculator, there were different tools for computing. The abacus for instance, is a precursor to the calculator. Perhaps from Babylonian origin, early abaci were believed to have been boards on which the position of counters indicated numerals. However, the modern abacus -- which many people still use throughout China, Japan and the Middle East -- works by transferring beads across wires which are strung around a frame (source: Britannica: Abacus].
Through much of the past century, some individuals performed calculations with motor-assisted mechanical addition machines. Others used mathematical tables, and slide rulers devices that have movable, graduated scales that, depending on what type you have, can handle everything from multiplication to trigonometry The source is Britannica: Slide Rule].
Finally, in the 1960s, advances in integrated circuitry resulted in the creation of electronic calculators but the early versions of these devices -- created by companies like Sharp as well as Texas Instruments -- looked not at all like the ones you carry around today in your backpack or briefcase.
To learn more about the evolution of today's electronic calculator -- and to see how the demands of consumers of smaller-sized calculators lead to creation of microchips , which power the appliances we use each 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
Many electronics companies and inventors may claim a first when it comes to the development of the electronic calculator. Japanese business Sharp is said to have developed the pioneering desk calculator that was the CS-10A in 1964. It resembled a cash register, and was about as much as mid-sized car (sources: Lewis, Sharp]. As of 1967, Texas Instruments developed what is called the first portable, handheld calculator which was gadget that could perform subtraction or subtraction as well as multiplication, division in a development that was nicknamed by the company "Cal Tech" [sources: Courier Mail, Texas Instruments[sources: Courier Mail, Texas instruments].
Using "Cal Tech" technology, Canon created the first handheld calculator for commercial use, that was released in 1970, with an initial price that was $400. [source: Texas Instruments]. The next few years became an up-and-down battle between manufacturers to develop calculators that were smaller, more user-friendly and less expensive. It was in 1972 that British innovator Sir Clive Sinclair introduced the Sinclair Executive, which is often regarded by some as the world's most affordable pocket calculator (sources: The Press, Western Daily PressThe Press, Western Daily Press. Its thickness was that of cigarettes in a pack.
These constant advances within calculator technology were created by the advent of the single-chip microprocessor in the latter half of the 1960s. Before this time engineers constructed the computing "brains" of calculators (and computers) using multiple chips or other components. A single-chip microprocessor lets a complete central processing unit (CPU) to exist on one silicon microchip. (To find out more about this technology, refer to the article How Microprocessors Work.)
Intel Corp. created the first commercially available single-chip microprocessor -- known as 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 the chip would be doubled roughly 2 times per year. This is known as "Moore's Law," and to this day, it remains true. In addition to becoming smaller, they also became more capable of sophisticated functions Source: Intel].
Nowadays, in addition to advanced versions of the basic pocket calculator advanced graphing and scientific calculators are now available to be used by professionals and students such as engineers. Many of them are based on widely used computer languages and can be programmed according to what the user's requirements. In fact the time that Texas Instruments introduced its TI-92 model in 1995, it was described as the model "a calculator with the power of a computer lab" [source: Texas Instruments]. Numerous graphing and scientific calculators can perform specific functions like:
- The switch from the standard base-ten to different number systems (hexadecimal counting, which is one of the bases-16 systems)
- Utilizing scientific notation in order to calculate very large numbers
- With the help of trigonometrics and logarithms directly
- Working with constants such as pi and e to an even higher level of precision
- Utilizing complex numbers using fractions, complex formulas and even fractions
- Solving equations
- Statistic analysis
- Using larger displays to work out formulas and graphs
Check out part 2 to learn how solar panels, circuit boards and the various other components of a calculator.
Comments
Post a Comment