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If you don't see the calculator above this line within a few seconds after all of the files are loaded, make sure your browser supports Java and that Java is enabled (e.g., in Explorer, make sure Tools | Internet Options | Advanced | Enable Java is checked).
If you are using
CoCalc from files on your computer, make sure
CoCalc.class is in the same directory as
CoCalc.html.
If you don't have Java installed on your computer, you can download it
for free from http://www.java.com.
It is a reasonably big download, but a simple installation.
After reading this documentation, you can shrink the window so that
only the calculator is visible.
CoCalc RPN Scientific Calculator
Copyright 1996-2004 CoHort Software
(www.cohort.com).
Version 1.05. Released 2003-3-11.
CoCalc is an RPN scientific calculator from
CoHort Software. In addition to the standard features for scientists,
CoCalc includes several features for computer
programmers (Hex and Binary notation, and some integer and
boolean math functions).
CoCalc has greater precision and greater range than most calculators.
Also, this calculator will never be lost under a pile of
papers on your desk; it won't ever need new batteries; and the
buttons will never break.
What is CoCalc2?
CoCalc2 is a version of CoCalc with
text that is much larger. Otherwise, it is identical.
CoCalc Is Free
Yes. CoCalc is freeware.
You are welcome to obtain a copy of the program and use it for free.
(However, we retain the copyright and ownership of CoCalc and you are
forbidden from reselling or altering CoCalc.)
CoCalc was created by CoHort Software, which makes
graphics and statistics software for scientists and engineers.
Since CoCalc is a small program, we are just giving it away.
Please contact CoHort Software
if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments about CoCalc.
"Can I install CoCalc on my computer?"
Yes, in fact, we prefer that you install it on your computer
instead of using it from the cohort web site.
Download (right click or Apple click)
http://www.cohort.com/CoCalc.class
and choose to save the file in the same directory as CoCalc.html.
Use your browser to view your copy of the calculator (CoCalc.html)
even when you aren't connected to the internet.
Consider adding a bookmark to your copy of CoCalc.html.
Use your browser to view your copy of the calculator (CoCalc2.html)
even when you aren't connected to the internet.
Consider adding a bookmark to your copy of CoCalc2.html.
"Can I put CoCalc on my web page?" Yes, if you:
Credit CoHort Software and include a link to the
CoHort Software home page.
For example, you might include a paragraph like:
Here is a free RPN scientific calculator available as a Java applet.
CoCalc is free for personal use (but please do not alter or resell it).
Download these files (
http://www.cohort.com/CoCalc.html and
http://www.cohort.com/CoCalc.class
) and use your browser to view your
copy of the calculator (CoCalc.html)
even when you aren't connected to the internet.
There is also a large text version of CoCalc, called CoCalc2.
Download these files (
http://www.cohort.com/CoCalc2.html and
http://www.cohort.com/CoCalc2.class
) and use your browser to view your
copy of the calculator (CoCalc2.html)
even when you aren't connected to the internet.
Please change the http references to the CoCalc files on your server.
Distribute the files for free and without making any changes to them.
Send us an email message with your web site address (so we can see
the reference) and your
email address (so we can notify you of updates). We won't use this
information for any other purpose.
Disclaimer: THIS CODE IS PROVIDED "AS IS",
AND COMES WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED; WITHOUT EVEN THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. COHORT SOFTWARE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES,
WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL ARISING
FROM THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE OR FROM THE INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE
OR FROM A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE IN A MANNER DESIRED BY
THE USER.
CoHort Software develops graphics and statistics
software
for scientists and engineers. CoCalc is currently our only freeware program.
Our other programs are:
CoPlot
- for making publication-quality 2D and 3D graphs, maps, and
technical drawings.
For further information, please contact us:
web site: www.cohort.com email: info@cohort.com CoHort Software, 798 Lighthouse Ave, PMB 320, Monterey, CA 93940, USA.
Our web site will always have the
latest version of CoCalc.
We welcome your comments and suggestions for improvements.
If you find a bug please let us know. If you can't figure out how some
feature works, please read the documentation below. If you still can't
figure it out, contact us.
The preferred method of communication is email (especially for people
outside of North America), but phone, fax,
and mail are okay (see the numbers and addresses
above).
Upgrades: If you want to be put on an email mailing list
to be notified when there is a new version of CoCalc, send email to
info@cohort.com with the words
"subscribe CoCalc" plus your email address on one line in the body of the
message.
1.00 released 7/23/96
1.01 released 11/18/96 - Fixed y^x (which acted like x^y).
1.02 released 8/27/97 -
Added support for keystrokes (which may not
work with Java 1.1 and higher).
Fixed the button-down line draw error
(which may occur with Java 1.1 and higher).
1.03 released 2000-1-21 - Added CoCalc2 (a large text version).
1.04 released 2000-9-19 - small documentation changes.
1.05 released 2003-3-11 - added support for '*', and ',' keys
(aliases for 'x' and '.').
We couldn't add access to the clipboard because, for security reasons,
applets can't get access to the clipboard.
CoCalc is a Reverse-Polish-Notation (RPN) scientific calculator.
RPN calculators
were popularized by Hewlett-Packard's great calculators. (If you buy a
real calculator, get one from HP: they are well-designed, well-built, and
reasonably priced. You can even visit the un-official HP calculator
museum.)
On ordinary, non-RPN
calculators, you do calculations by pressing buttons in the order that
you would write an equation on paper (e.g., 5 - 2 = ).
On RPN calculators,
you enter the numbers and and then do something to them
(e.g., 5 Enter
2 - ). You will note that RPN calculators don't have an
= button or
parentheses buttons, but they do have an Enter button.
If you aren't used to it, RPN seems odd at first. But when you
get used to it and use it for non-trivial calculations, you will see
that it is a wonderful system.
For simple numbers, just press the appropriate buttons. For example,
to enter 45.68, press: 4 5 . 6 8.
To enter a number with an exponent: after entering the mantissa of the
number, press eex, and then enter the exponent. For example,
to enter 4.56*10^5, press 4 . 5 6 eex 5. The display will
show 4.56e5, which is the program's notation the numbers with
exponents.
To make a number negative, type the number and then press chs
(change sign). For example, to enter -4.56, press 4 . 5 6 chs.
You can press chs repeatedly to add/remove the minus sign.
To make an exponent negative, press chs (change sign) after
you have entered the exponent. For example,
to enter 4.56*10^-5, press 4 . 5 6 eex 5 chs. The display will
show 4.56e-5, which is the program's notation the numbers with
exponents.
For many of the buttons, you can also type the similarly named keys.
This works for the following keys:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a A b B c C d D e E f F
^ ! % . / x - + Enter backspace.
The buttons that they correspond to should be obvious.
Also supported are ',' (an alias for '.') and
'*' (an alias for 'x').
Warning: note that '-' corresponds to the subtraction button ('-');
to change the sign of a number, you must use the 'chs' button.
The stack consists of 4 registers (slots which hold numbers), which are
named: x, y, z, and t.
When you enter a number, it is constructed in the x register.
When you
have finished entering a number, you can do something to the number
(e.g., press a button that does something to the value in the x register,
like 10^x), or you can enter another number (press Enter
and then start entering the next number.
Many buttons are commands that use the values in the x and y registers,
e.g., +. When you use these, the result is placed in x, and the
values
in the z and t registers are move down: y= previous z, z= previous t.
The t register is not changed.
There are 3 important keys for manipulating the numbers in the stack:
Enter - this button pushes all of the values upwards.
The x value
stays in x and is also pushed into y; y goes into z; z goes into t;
and t goes into oblivion.
For example, press 1 Enter 2 Enter Enter.
rollDn - this rolls down all of the registers.
The t value moves
to z; z moves to y; y moves to x; x moves to t.
For example, press 3 Enter 4 rollDn rollDn rollDn rollDn.
x<->y - this button swaps the values in the x and y
registers. For example, press 5 Enter 6 x<->y.
Automatic stack lift: After you use a command (e.g., ln or
+), you can immediately enter another number; you don't need
to press Enter to lift all of the values in the stack.
After a command, if you press a digit, CoCalc
will automatically lift the stack (as if you had pressed Enter).
The basic approach to using CoCalc is: enter numbers into the registers
(for example, press 2 Enter 3) and do things to them
(press +).
This is clearly not the same as entering an equation, but with a little
practice it will become easier. Sometimes, you will see that there are
two general approaches: 1) enter the numbers in the order they occur
in the equation, using operators when the proper values are in the
proper registers, and 2) start with the part of the equation that is
within parentheses. These techniques are illustrated below.
Here are some simple equations and the buttons you need to press to
do the calculation in CoCalc:
Problem: square root(9)= Solution: press 9 x^0.5
Problem: 8/5= Solution: press 8 Enter 5 /
Problem: 4 + (5*6) = Solution 1) Press: 4 Enter 5 Enter 6 * +.
Solution 2) Press: 5 Enter 6 * 4 +. Note that you don't have to
press Enter before typing 4; the stack is automatically
lifted when you start typing a number after doing an operation.
Problem: 3*sin(1.5degrees)= Solution 0) For either method, press Deg so the calculations will be
done in degree mode.
Solution 1) Press: 3 Enter 1.5 sin *.
Solution 2) Press: 1.5 sin 3 *.
Problem: (16/5.6 + .5) / (pi*.8^2 + 4) Solution: press 16 Enter 5.6 / .5 + pi Enter .8 x^2 * 4 + /
For more complicated equations or if you repeatedly use a constant,
you may want to store values in a storage register.
Problem: Convert several length measurements (in inches) into centimeters.
Solution: Press 2.54 Store 0,
then repeatedly press (a number) Recall 0 *
There are two units commonly used to measure angles: degrees and radians.
A complete
circle spans 360 degrees. A complete circle spans 2*pi radians. Sometimes
it is easier to work in degrees; sometimes in radians. CoCalc can
work with either.
The Deg and Rad
radio buttons let you choose which mode will be used for subsequent
trigonometric operations (sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan,
->Rec, ->Pol).
The ->Deg and ->Rad
buttons let you convert an angle value in the x register from
radians to degrees, or from degrees to radians, respectively.
Numbers can be displayed in different ways. The Fix, Sci,
and Eng options
all display numbers in base 10, but with slightly different ways of
determining how many digits will be shown and how the exponent
will be shown. The Hex and Bin options display
rounded values in base
16 and base 2 respectively.
For all of these options, the numbers
stored in the registers are not changed; the numbers
are just displayed in different ways.
Fix - This format always shows a fixed number of digits
to the right of the decimal place.
To select the Fix display mode and specify the number of
digits to the right of the decimal point,
press Fix and then the desired number of digits, 0 - F.
For example, 98765.12345 appears as 98765.123
if you use Fix 3.
The last digit is rounded.
If the number is too big or too small, scientific notation will be used.
Sci - Scientific notation always displays the number
with one digit to the left of the decimal place, some specified
number of digits to the right, and an exponent.
To select the Sci display mode and specify the number of digits
to the right of the decimal point,
press Sci and then the desired number of digits, 0 - F.
For example, 98765.12345 appears as 9.877e+004
if you use Sci 3.
The last digit is rounded.
Eng - Engineering notation is similar to scientific
notation, except that the exponent is constrained to be a multiple
of 3.
To select the Eng display mode and specify the number of
digits to the right of the decimal point,
press Eng and then the desired number of digits, 0 - F.
For example, 98765.12345 appears as 98.765e+003
if you use Sci 3.
The last digit is rounded.
[HP calculator purists: no, this is not exactly the way HP does it. But
this way makes the decimal points line up nicely.]
Hex - The Hex option displays the numbers in the registers
by displaying rounded values in base 16.
Hexadecimal, as base 16 is called, is widely
used by computer programmers. When you are typing in numbers in this mode,
you can use digits 0 - 9 and
additional hex digits (A, B, C, D, E, and F) which stand for the base
10 numbers: 10, 11,
12, 13, 14, and 15, respectively. Because the calculator only works
with integer hexadecimal numbers,
you can't use the . or eex keys in Hex mode. Negative numbers
are displayed with a '-' sign, which avoids a problem: there
are two common ways to store negative numbers in Hex notation
(two's complement and one's complement) and the number of digits is different
for 16, 32, and 64 bit numbers.
To select the Hex display mode, press Hex.
Bin - The Bin option displays the numbers in the registers
by displaying rounded values in base 2.
Binary, as base 2 is called, is widely
used by computer programmers. When you are typing in numbers in this mode,
you can only use digits 0 and 1. Because the calculator only works
with integer binary numbers,
you can't use the . or eex keys in Bin mode.
Negative numbers
are displayed with a '-' sign, which avoids a problem: there
are two common ways to store negative numbers in Bin notation
(two's complement and one's complement) and the number of digits is different
for 16, 32, and 64 bit numbers.
Since binary notation is not very dense, you will get an error message
if a number is too long to display.
To select the Bin display mode, press Bin.
There are 16 registers (slots) into which you can store, and later retrieve,
numbers.
To store the current x value, press store and the
number of the register into which you want to store it (0 - F),
e.g., store 4.
To recall a stored number and put it in x (as if you typed it in), press
recall and the number of the register from which you are getting
it (0 - F), e.g., recall 4.
You can set all of the storage registers to 0 by pressing clrReg.
Registers 0 - 5 are used by the statistics procedures to hold
various sums. So, before using the statistics procedures,
use clrReg. Until you are done with statistics don't store
anything in registers 0 - 5.
CoCalc can do calculate simple correlation and linear regression statistics.
To do so:
Initialize the statistics system by pressing clrReg.
Storage registers 0 - 5 are used by the statistics procedures to hold
various sums. So, while using the statistics procedures, don't store
anything new in registers 0 - 5.
For each x,y pair of numbers, type the y value, press Enter,
type the x value, and press Sig+. When you press Sig+, the
program increments the storage registers
(s0=s0+1, s1=s1+x, s2=s2+x^2, s3=s3+y,
s4=s4+y^2, s5=s5+xy,) and displays the s0 value in x.
These values will be used to calculate various statistics.
When you are done entering the data, press any of the statistics keys:
mean - Sets x=the mean of the x values, y=the mean
of the y values, z=z, t=t.
S.D. - Sets x=the standard deviation of the x values,
y=the standard deviation of the y values, z=z t=t.
L.R. - Linear Regression: x=intercept, y=slope, z=z, t=t.
x^,r - Given a y value in the x register,
this sets x=expected x, y=correlation coefficient (r), z=z, t=t.
y^,r - Given an x value in the x register,
this sets x=expected y, y=correlation coefficient (r), z=z, t=t.
If you make a mistake or wish to remove an x,y pair from the statistics,
you can enter the x,y values and press Sig-.
All of the discussion above presumes you have x,y pairs. However,
most of the statistics procedures (Sig+, Sig-, mean, S.D.)
can be used if you just have x values.
Precision: All registers (x,y,z,t and storage) are 64 bit
doubles that have roughly
17-18 significant decimal digits and a range of +/-1e300. The
+/-1e300 limit is slightly smaller than the true range of doubles;
CoCalc restricts it to help avoid numeric errors.
Integer precision: Calculations that are done on rounded values
(e.g., div, mod, <<, >>, and, or, xor, not)
are done on 64 bit integers (called "long's").
Unfortunately, since the precision of doubles is slightly less than
the precision of long's, the full range of long's is not available.
This should only be a problem in truly extreme cases (e.g., numbers
greater than 1e17).
Errors: CoCalc tries to catch and prevent numeric overflows,
division by 0, sqrt, log or ln of a negative number, and other errors.
Any calculation that leads to a value
greater than +/-1e300 (and some that lead to +/-1e295) lead
to an error message. Any calculation done
with a error value leads to an error (e.g., 1+error=error).
Clearing Errors: You can clear an error value in the x register
by pressing clx
Round-off errors: Computers are not good at exactly storing
decimal values. After a series of calculations this often leads to the
situation where the internal value of a number is not exactly what
you expect (e.g., what appears as 100.0000 may be
99.9999999999 internally).
Usually, this doesn't matter, because the numbers are rounded
when they are displayed (e.g., Fix 4 will show you 100.0000).
But if you subsequently use int the result will be 99 and
the result of frac will appear as 1
(although it is 0.9999999999 internally)!
There isn't much you can do about this; just be aware of it.
While you are typing in a number, this appends '.' to the number.
%
Set x=x*y/100, y=y, z=z, t=t.
Note that the y, z, and t registers are unchanged.
For example, to calculate 15% of $30, press 30 Enter 15 %.
->Deg
Change x from Radians to Degrees:
Sets x= x / 2pi * 360.
This assumes that the original x value is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
->Pol
Converts from rectangular coordinates(x,y)
to Polar coordinates (x=radius, y=theta):
Set x=sqrt(x^2+y^2), y=arcTan2(y,x), z=z, t=t.
The y result is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
->Rad
Change x from Degrees to Radians:
Sets x= x * 360 / 2pi.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
->Rec
Converts from polar coordinates (x=radius, y=theta)
to Rectangular coordinates:
set x=x*cos(y), y=x*sin(y), z=z, t=t.
This assumes that the original y value is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
/
Set x=x/y, y=z, z=t, t=t.
x
(Multiply) Set x=x*y, y=z, z=t, t=t.
-
Set x=x-y, y=z, z=t, t=t.
+
Set x=x+y, y=z, z=t, t=t.
<-
When you are typing in a number, this backspaces. It removes
the rightmost character in the number
(which is usually the last digit entered).
>>
Set x=round(y) shiftRight round(x), y=z, z=t, t=t.
Shifting right is like doing an integer division by 2, x times.
For example, 16 Enter 2 >> returns 4.
<<
Set x=round(y) shiftLeft round(x), y=z, z=t, t=t.
Shifting left is like doing an integer multiplication by 2, x times.
For example, 4 Enter 2 << returns 16.
0
While you are typing in a number, this appends '0' to the number.
1
While you are typing in a number, this appends '1' to the number.
1/x
Set x=1/x, y=y, z=z, t=t.
10^x
Set x=10 to the x. Also called common antilog.
2
While you are typing in a number, this appends '2' to the number.
3
While you are typing in a number, this appends '3' to the number.
4
While you are typing in a number, this appends '4' to the number.
5
While you are typing in a number, this appends '5' to the number.
6
While you are typing in a number, this appends '6' to the number.
7
While you are typing in a number, this appends '7' to the number.
8
While you are typing in a number, this appends '8' to the number.
9
While you are typing in a number, this appends '9' to the number.
A
While you are typing in a number in Hex mode, this appends 'A'
to the number.
acos
Set x=arccos(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
The result is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
and
Set x=round(y) and round(x), y=z, z=t, t=t.and compares the two numbers bit by bit. If the both
bits are 1's, the resulting number has a 1 for that bit.
asin
Set x=arcsin(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
The result is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
atan
Set x=arctan(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
The result is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
B
While you are typing in a number in Hex mode, this appends 'B'
to the number.
Bin
Display rounded numbers in binary format.
See Display Options.
C
While you are typing in a number in Hex mode, this append 'C'
to the number.
Clears the storage registers (0-F).
Do it before doing Statistics.
See Statistics.
clx
clear x: Set x=0, y=y, z=z, t=t.
CoCalc
Refresh the screen, and show some information about
CoCalc, including the version number.
cos
Set x=cos(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
This assumes that the original x value is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
D
While you are typing in a number in Hex mode, this appends 'D'
to the number.
While you are typing in a number in Hex mode, this appends 'E'
to the number in x.
Fix
Display a fixed number of decimal digits (0 - F).
See Display Options.
frac
Set x=the fractional part of x, y=y, z=z, t=t.
Help
For a description of a button,
press Help then press another button.
Hex
Display rounded numbers in hexadecimal format.
See Display Options.
int
Set x=the integer part of x, y=y, z=z, t=t.
L.R.
Linear Regression: Sets x=intercept, y=slope, z=z, t=t.
See Statistics.
last x
Set x=last x, y=x, z=y, t=z. The 'last x' is saved
when you do an operation (e.g., ln, +)
so you can recover the x value that existed before the operation.
ln
Set x=the natural log (base e) of x.
log
Set x=the natural log (base 10) of x.
mean
Sets x=mean of x's, y=mean of y's, z=z, t=t.
See Statistics.
mod
Set x=round(y) modulus round(x), y=z, z=t, t=t.
Modulus is the remainder of an integer division. See Div.
For example, 7 Enter 3 mod returns 1.
n!
Set x=factorial(round(x)), e.g., 4!=1*2*3*4.
not
Set x=64bit 2's complement of round(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
or
Set x=round(y) or round(x), y=z, z=t, t=t.or compares the two numbers bit by bit. If either of the
bits is a 1, the resulting number has a 1 for that bit.
Recall x from a stored value (slots 0 - F).
For example, to recall the value in slot 5 and put it in x,
press recall 5.
See Storage Registers.
roll Dn
roll down: Sets x=y, y=z, z=t, t=x.
See The Stack.
S.D.
Sets x=standard deviation of the x's, y=standard
deviation of the y's, z=z, t=t.
See Statistics.
Sci
Display numbers in scientific notation (with 0 - F digits).
See Display Options.
Sig-
Set storage registers: s0=s0-1, s1=s1-x, s2=s2-x^2, s3=s3-y,
s4=s4-y^2, s5=s5-xy; x=s0.
See Statistics.
Sig+
Set storage registers: s0=s0+1, s1=s1+x, s2=s2+x^2, s3=s3+y,
s4=s4+y^2, s5=s5+xy; x=s0.
See Statistics.
sin
Set x=sin(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
This assumes that the original x value is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
store
Store x in a slot (0 - F).
For example, to store the x value in slot 5, press store 5.
See Storage Registers.
tan
Set x=tan(x), y=y, z=z, t=t.
This assumes that the original x value is an angle in Radians or Degrees,
depending on the current Rad or Deg setting.
See Degrees vs. Radians.
x^0.5
Set x=square root of x, y=y, z=z, t=t.
x<->y
Swap the x and y register values, z=z, t=t.
See The Stack.
x^2
Set x=x^2, y=y, z=z, t=t.
x^,r
Given a y value in the x register,
this sets x=expected x, y=correlation coefficient (r), z=z, t=t.
See Statistics.
xor
Set x=round(y) xor round(x), y=z, z=t, t=t.xor compares the two numbers bit by bit. If one bit is
0 and the other is 1, the resulting number has a 1 for that bit.
y^x
Set x=y^x, y=z, z=t, t=t.
y^,r
Given a x value in the x register,
this sets x=expected y, y=correlation coefficient (r), z=z, t=t.
See Statistics.