Texas Instruments TI-83 Series Manual page 3

7
Chapter 1: Coping with the Basics
The remaining rows contain, among other things, the keys you
typically find on a scientific calculator.
Keys on the calculator are never pressed simultaneously. In
this book, an instruction such as y... indicates that you
should first press y and then press ....
Accessing the functions
in blue and yellow
Above and to the left of most keys is a secondary key func-
tion. These functions are yellow on the TI-83 Plus calculator
and blue on the TI-84. To access that function, first press y
and then press the key. For example, π is above the õ key, so
to use π in an expression, press y and then press õ.
Because hunting for the function can be tedious, in this book I
use only the actual keystrokes. For example, I will make state-
ments like, "π is entered into the calculator by pressing
yõ." Most other books would state, "π is entered into the
calculator by pressing y [π]."
When the y key is active and the calculator is waiting for
you to press the next key, the blinking $ cursor symbol is
replaced with the n symbol.
Using the É key
to write words
Above and to the right of most keys is a letter written in
green. To access these letters, first press É and then
press the key. For example, because the letter O is in green
above the ¨ key, to enter this letter, press É and then
press ¨.
Because hunting for letters on the calculator can be tedious, I
tell you the exact keystrokes needed to create them. For exam-
ple, if I want you to enter the letter O, I say, "Press ɨ to
enter the letter O." Most other books would say "Press É
[O]" and leave it up to you to figure out where that letter is on
the calculator.