TI-84 Plus Graphing Calculator For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013936420
ISBN 978-1-118-59215-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-59288-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-59289-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-59280-9 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Jeff McCalla is currently teaching mathematics and coaching the golf team at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis, TN. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Education with a minor in mathematics from Wheaton College and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the University of Memphis. Jeff is the co-founder of the TI-Nspire SuperUser group, dedicated to providing advanced training from the world’s foremost experts. In addition, he enjoys traveling the country, training teachers as an instructor for Texas Instruments T3 Program. Jeff also wrote TI-Nspire For Dummies. A highlight for Jeff was receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science & Mathematics Teaching and with it, the opportunity to meet both President Obama and Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. When he is not meeting important dignitaries, Jeff enjoys going to ballgames with his boys, playing golf and tennis, eating Chick-fil-A, reading Malcolm Gladwell and John Wooden, getting free stuff, teaching Sunday school, and making his wife smile.
C. C. Edwards has a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and is currently teaching mathematics on the undergraduate and graduate levels. She has been using technology in the classroom since before Texas Instruments came out with their first graphing calculator, and she frequently gives workshops at national and international conferences on using technology in the classroom. She has written forty activities for Texas Instrument’s Explorations web site, and she was an editor of Eightysomething, a newsletter formerly published by Texas Instruments. She is also the author of TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator For Dummies.
Just barely five feet tall, CC, as her friends call her, has three goals in life: to be six inches taller, to have naturally curly hair, and to be independently wealthy. As yet, she is nowhere close to meeting any of these goals. When she retires, she plans to become an old lady carpenter.
This book is dedicated to my parents, Bud & Elaine McCalla, whose passion for mathematics rubbed off on me. I am most thankful for them not tossing me to the curb when I went through my annoying middle school years.
I could not have written this book without the help and support of the people at Wiley. First and foremost, I want to thank my project editor, Blair Pottenger, whose expertise was indispensable in the writing process. I also want to thank my acquisitions editor, Amy Fandrei, for keeping me to a tight schedule and helping me with the content and outline of the book. It is my pleasure to thank Debbye Butler for her thoroughness and copy edit. Additionally, I want to thank Fred Decovsky, Ed. D., for verifying the mathematical and technical accuracy of this book.
I certainly want to thank my friends at Texas Instruments for their ongoing support. The leadership of Gayle Mujica, Charlyne Young, and Kevin Spry has helped make this project possible. In particular, Margo Mankus has come through for me every time I had questions about the new features on the TI-84 C. And, Lydia Neher for always keeping me up to date on the most recent OS changes. Of course, I want to thank Tonya Hancock for her role in fueling my calculator addiction.
Fellow T3 instructors have assisted me with their help when called upon. Jennifer Wilson’s help has been instrumental in the writing of this book. Her eye for detail and general grammar mastery continue to amaze me. I want to thank Jill Gough, who constantly challenges my thinking about teaching. Bryson Perry’s technical expertise has been an invaluable resource.
On the home front, I wish to thank my teaching colleagues, Orion Miller, Sandra Halfacre, and Chrystal Hogan, who were nice resources when I had questions. I need to thank the administration at my school, Albert Throckmorton and Patti Ray, for their leadership and for allowing me to pursue my writing. I also want to thank my wife Shannon and my three boys, Matt, Josh, and Caleb, for putting up with me during the writing process. Finally, I want to thank the students I teach at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, who are the inspiration for much of what I do.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
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Do you know how to use the TI-84 Plus or TI-84 Plus C family of calculators to do each of the following?
If not, then this is the book for you. Contained within these pages are straightforward, easy-to-follow directions that show you how to do everything listed here — and much, much more.
The TI-84 Plus calculator is capable of doing a lot of things, and this book shows you how to utilize its full potential.
It covers more than just the basics of using the calculator, paying special attention to warn you of the problems that you could encounter if you know only the basics of using the calculator.
This is a reference book. It’s process-driven, not application-driven. You won’t be given a problem to solve and then be told how to use the calculator to solve that particular problem. Instead, you’re given the steps needed to get the calculator to perform a particular task, such as constructing a histogram or graphing a scatter plot.
When I refer to “your calculator,” I am referring to the TI-84 Plus and TI-84 Plus C family of calculators because the keystrokes on these calculators are almost the same. When I want you to press a key on the calculator, I use an icon for that key. For example, if I want you to press the ENTER key, I say press 
. If I want you to press a series of keys, such as the Stat key and then the right-arrow key, I say (for example) press 
. All keys on the calculator are pressed one at a time — there is no such thing as holding down one key while you press another key.
It’s tricky enough to get familiar with the location of the keys on the calculator, and even more of a challenge to remember the location of the secondary functions, such as the blue functions that appear above the key. So when I want you to access one of those functions, I give you the actual keystrokes. For example, if I want you to access the Angle menu, I tell you to press 
. This is a simpler method than that of the manual that came with your calculator — which would say press 
and then make you hunt for the location of the secondary function ANGLE. The same principle holds for using key combinations to enter specific characters; for example, I tell you to press 
to enter a space.
When I want you to use the arrow keys, but not in any specific order, I say press the 
keys or use the arrow keys. If I want you to use only the up- and down-arrow keys, I say press 
.
All of the screenshots in this book were taken using the TI-84 Plus C calculator. Of course, you will only be able to see color screenshots in the color insert pages.
The items that follow a Technical Stuff icon are designed for the curious reader who wants to know — but doesn’t really need to know — why something happens.
Sidebars provide optional reading that you may find interesting. Feel free to skip reading the sidebars if you want since they will not contain crucial information related to your understanding of the topic. The sidebars are strategically placed, ‘extras’ that could only enhance your learning.
My nonfoolish assumption is that you know (in effect) nothing about using the calculator, or you wouldn’t be reading this book. My foolish assumptions are as follows:
The parts of this book are organized by tasks that you would like to have the calculator perform.
This part describes the basics of using the calculator. It addresses such tasks as adjusting the contrast and getting the calculator to perform basic arithmetic operations. It also explains how to deal with fractions and how to solve equations.
This part shows you how to enter and evaluate complex numbers. It also introduces you to some of the most useful menus for solving problems. Everything from the basics of converting fractions and decimals to entering and storing matrices is covered in this part.
In this part, think visual. Part III shows you how to graph and analyze functions, inequalities, and transformations of functions. It even explains how to create a table for the graph, inequality, or transformation. In addition, you learn to graph parametric equations, polar equations, and sequences.
It’s highly probable that Part IV will show you not only how to deal with probability and statistics, but also how to enter data in lists and perform regressions. Learn to seed a random number in your calculator so you can amaze your friends by predicting randomly generated numbers. As a bonus, you learn to use the binomial theorem to expand expressions.
Part V describes how you can save calculator files on a computer and how you can transfer files from one calculator to another. Find out how to use TI-Connect software to transfer a color photo image from the computer to a graph on your calculator. This part also shows you how to use the Finance app to make the power of compound interest work for you. You also learn to archive and group files in order to manage the memory on your calculator and avoid common errors.
Part VI contains a ton of useful information packaged nicely in groups of ten. Learn to use the essential skills that you need to succeed in the classroom. This part also describes the most common errors and error messages that you may encounter.
This book uses four icons to help you along the way. Here’s what they are and what they mean:
The text following this icon tells you about shortcuts and other ways of enhancing your use of the calculator.
The text following this icon tells you something you should remember because if you don’t, it may cause you problems later. Usually the Remember icon highlights a reminder to enter the appropriate type of number so you can avoid an error message.
There is no such thing as crashing the calculator. But this icon warns you of those few times when you can do something wrong on the calculator and be totally baffled because the calculator is giving you confusing feedback — either no error message or a cryptic error message that doesn’t really tell you the true location of the problem.
This is the stuff you don’t need to read unless you’re really curious.
This book is designed so you do not have to read it from cover to cover. You don’t even have to start reading at the beginning of a chapter. When you want to know how to get the calculator to do something, just start reading at the beginning of the appropriate section. The Index and Table of Contents should help you find whatever you’re looking for. And for your first tip on where to find other information:
You can find an additional topic — doing geometry using Cabri Jr. — on the official Dummies website. To check it out, visit www.dummies.com/go/ti84 and then click on the Downloads tab.
Part I
Visit www.dummies.com for great Dummies content online.
In this part …
Chapter 1
In This Chapter
Turning the calculator on and off
Using the keyboard
Utilizing the menus
Setting the mode of the calculator
Using the Catalog
The most popular calculator in the world just got a makeover! In this book, you find out how to take advantage of the improvements that have been made to the TI-84 Plus, as well as all of the built-in functionality that has not changed. The best way to use your calculator to the fullest is to read this book and start playing with the device.
The TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition graphing calculator is loaded with many useful features. With it, you can solve equations of all types. You can graph and investigate functions, parametric equations, polar equations, and sequences. You can use it to analyze statistical data and to manipulate matrices. You can even use it to calculate mortgage payments.
What if you own the TI-84 Plus and not the TI-84 Plus C? No worries! The vast majority of the steps will be exactly the same for both calculators. You’ll see a difference in the appearance of the graph screen — the TI-84 Plus C has a higher resolution color screen. If you own the TI-84 Plus, ignore any steps referencing color and skip Chapter 22 (about inserting color images) altogether.
If you’ve never used a graphing calculator before, you may at first find it a bit intimidating. After all, it contains about two dozen menus, many of which contain three or four submenus. But it’s really not that hard to get used to using the calculator. After you get familiar with what the calculator is capable of doing, finding the menu that houses the command you need is quite easy. And you have this book to help you along the way.
You may have the same reaction that I did to some of the changes that have been made to the calculator: “Why didn’t I think of that?” It’s possible that you did actually! Many of the changes to the TI-84 Plus are a direct result of feedback received from teachers and students. After all, Texas Instruments is committed to providing the best tools for the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.
What does the C stand for in TI-84 Plus C? Color! Say goodbye to having trouble distinguishing functions when you’re graphing more than one function on the same screen. Although some of the improvements are subtle, you’ll notice others the first time you pick up your new calculator. Here’s a small sampling of the changes:
for ZStandard? No problem! The functionality you know hasn’t changed.Think you’ve seen it all? Not even close. I explain these improvements and much more — just keep reading.
Figure 1-1: Improvements to the TI-84 Plus.