Calculations during examinations are to be carried out using non-programmable calculators supplied by the Faculty of Science. Because the working of such calculators may not be familiar to everyone, some help notes are included on this website. These notes cover some basic funtions one would use in physical chemistry.

The syntax used in the calculators, supplied by the Faculty is the same as that in the Calculator program which comes free with MS Windows on your PC. You can use this program to practice.

Here is how to get started:

Press the Start button => All Programs => Accessories => Calculator.

You should work with the calculator in scientific mode. Press View => Scientific. The calculator should look like this:

Some Common functions:

Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

These functions are all straightforward and are typed into the computer as you would write them down on paper. So getting the answer of the addition of 2.3 to 3.5 you need to:

Type 3.5, press +, type 2.3, type =

You get the answer after you have pressed the "=" button. Similarly for getting the answer of the subtraction of the subtraction of 2.3 from 3.5 you need to type:

3.5 - 2.3 =

The same goes for multiplication and division functions.

Finding the logarithm to base 10 of 5:

press 5, press log

There is no need to press the equal sign. Try this out and make sure that you get the same answer that you would get by using your calculator. If you have 5 already displayed on your screen, for instance when it is the answer of a previous calculation, then simply press log. Now try finding the natural logarithm of 5 (ln 5).

Now for the reverse. Supposing you have a number, say 2.3, and you want to find which number 2.3 is the log of. In other words you want to find the antilog of 2.3. procedure is:

Press 2.3, tick the box next to Inv, press log

Again there is no need to press the "=" button and if the 2.3 is already displayed, as at the end of another calculation, then all you need to is tick "Inv" and then press log. Try this with natural logarithms.

The table below shows these examples and some more:

Using the Calculators supplied for examinations:

So now you should be familiar with the syntax of the calculator supplied with Windows. You should know which buttons to press and in which order. From here it is simply a matter of knowing where the buttons are fund on calculators using the same syntax. As stated, the calculators supplied by the Faculty of science have similar syntax however their layout is somewhat different. A photograph of the Kaiser calulator supplied by the Faculty of Science is given below.

Notice that most buttons have a second function. This function is used by pressing the "Shift" button and then the button just like you would do when using the keyboard of your computer. Therefore for p you need to pressing "Shift" then pressing "EXP". Here are some common functions.