Читать книгу SAT Math For Dummies with Online Practice - Mark Zegarelli - Страница 79

Every calculator is a little different. So if you decide to buy a new calculator especially for the SAT, be sure not to leave it in its impenetrable plastic packaging until the day of the test. Take it out and play around with it to get used to it, and, if possible, use it for a few weeks or months in your math class, as well as for taking SAT practice tests.

At a minimum, you should know how to do the following:

 Perform basic calculator moves: Make sure you feel very comfortable doing basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on your specific calculator.

 Work with decimals: Locate the decimal point key and make sure you know how to use it.

 Make numbers negative: On some calculators, the key for negating a number is distinct from the key for subtraction.

 Find a square root (radical): Locate the square root key and make sure you can find square roots.

 Square a number: Your calculator may have a key that looks something like , used for squaring a number.

 Raise a number to the power of another number: Your calculator probably has a key that looks something like , which allows you to raise a number to the power of another number.

 Degrees versus radians: Most calculators with trigonometric functions allow you to specify whether input values and results are to be specified in degrees or radians. Be sure you know how to make this switch so you can do it quickly on the test as needed.