How a Calculator Calculates
How Calculators Work
There might have been an era when the most complicated calculations that people needed to conduct could have been accomplished with just their fingers and toes. Today it's virtually impossible for many to imagine performing any task that involves numbersincluding math assignments for tax-related returns, even tipping servers at restaurants without at the very least a pocket calculator. Electronic calculators are used so widely that it's hard imagine that they weren't popular until the end of the 20 century. century.
Before the invention and development of the contemporary calculator there were other devices for computation. The abacus, for example, is a precursor to the calculator. Perhaps of Babylonian origin, early abaci can be believed to be boards where the positions of counters was used to represent the numerical value. The modern abacus -- which some people still use today from China, Japan and the Middle East -- works by moving beads along wires that are strung across frames (source: Britannica: Abacus].
Through the course of the last century, some individuals performed calculations with motor-assisted mechanical addition machines. Other people used mathematical tables as well as slide rule -- instruments with adjustable, graduated scales that depend on the type you have, can handle anything from trigonometry to multiplication [source: Britannica: Slide Rule[source: Britannica: Slide Rule].
Finally, in the 1960s, advancements in integrated circuitry resulted in the electronic calculator, however the first versions of these devices -- created by companies like Sharp as well as Texas Instruments -- looked far from the type that you might carry today in your backpack or briefcase.
To find out more about the evolution of today's electronic calculator -- and find out how the demand from consumers in smaller computers led to development of microchips that run the appliances we use each everyday, keep reading.
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
A variety of electronics firms as well as inventors may claim to have a first when it comes to the development of the electronic calculator. Japanese firm Sharp is said to have developed the premier desk calculator, the CS-10A, in 1964. It was similar to a cash register, and was about the same amount as a mid-sized car (sources: Lewis, Sharp]. The year was 1967. Texas Instruments developed what is known as the first handheld and portable calculator -- which is a device that could perform addition or subtraction as well as multiplication, division in a development that was dubbed by the company "Cal Tech" [sources: Courier Mail, Texas Instruments].
Using "Cal Tech" technology, Canon invented its first hand-held calculator that was designed for commercial use it was introduced in 1970 and came with an estimated price 400 dollars [source: Texas Instruments]. The next few years became something of a race among manufacturers to create calculators that were smaller, more accessible and less expensive. The year 1972 was when British designer Sir Clive Sinclair introduced the Sinclair Executive, which is widely regarded as the first pocket calculator [sources: The Press, Western Daily PressThe Press, Western Daily Press. Its thickness was the same as a pack of cigarettes.
These continued advancements of calculator technology were largely result of the development of the single chip microprocessor in the latter half of the 1960s. Before that, engineers built the computing "brains" of calculators (and computers) using multiple chips or other components. In essence, a single-chip processor allows an entire central processing unit (CPU) to be located on a single silicon microchip. (To know more about this technology, refer to the How Microprocessors Work.)
Intel Corp. created the first single-chip microprocessor that was commercially available 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 capabilities of one chip would double around once every two years. The theory is called "Moore's Law," and so far it still holds true. Not only did calculators get smaller as time went by, they became more capable of advanced application *Source: Intel].
Today, as well as advanced versions of the basic pocket calculator advanced graphing and scientific calculators are in use by both students and professionals such as engineers. Many use well-known computer languages and are programmed to meet the needs of the user. In fact, when Texas Instruments introduced its TI-92 model in 1995, they described"TI-92 "a calculator with the power of a computer lab" [source: Texas Instruments]. Numerous graphing and scientific calculators are capable of several of these things:
- Moving from the base-ten system to different number systems (hexadecimal counting, is an example of a system that is base-16)
- Utilizing scientific notation in order to calculate very large numbers
- Using logarithms and trigonometric functions directly
- Working with constants like pi and e at an even greater degree of precision
- Utilizing complicated numbers such as fractions, formulas, and fractions
- Solving equations
- The analysis of statistics
- Using larger displays to calculate formulas and graphs
Read on to part 2 to learn more about solar cells, circuit boards, and the various other components that comprise the calculator.
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