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Scientific Calculator

A free scientific calculator with sin, cos, tan, logs, powers, roots, factorials and memory, that shows how it worked out every answer.

Level: Grades 9–11

Printable worksheet

Scientific Calculator

Degrees
Angle unit

Result

12 × sin(30) + 2^3 =

14

Step-by-step solution

  1. Read the expression using the order of operations: brackets, powers, × and ÷, then + and −

    12 × sin(30) + 2^3

  2. Take the sine of 30° (degree mode)

    sin 30°=0.5

  3. Multiply the two numbers

    12×0.5=6

  4. Raise to a power

    23=8

  5. Add the two numbers

    6+8=14

  6. Final result

    12 × sin(30) + 2^3=14

What this calculator does

Work out math that goes past + − × ÷, and see every step. This calculator handles powers, roots, sin, cos and tan, logarithms, factorials and numbers like π and e. It also follows the usual order of operations. So you can type a whole calculation at once, instead of doing it piece by piece.

Use your keyboard or the keys on the screen. As you type, a preview shows the answer. Press = to save it in your history and store it as Ans, for use in the next calculation. Below the keypad, every answer comes with the working: how the calculator read your line, and each step it did, in order.

Where it's used

Why this math matters outside the classroom:

  • Physics homework. Students evaluate 0.5 × 9.81 × 2.5² to find that a dropped stone falls about 30.7 m in 2.5 seconds.
  • Measuring heights. A surveyor computes 50 × tan 35° to find that a tree 50 m away, sighted at 35°, is about 35 m tall.
  • Compound interest. Savers enter 2000 × 1.04^15 to see that $2,000 at 4% a year grows to about $3,601.89 in 15 years.
  • Chemistry pH. Chemistry students take −log(3.2 × 10⁻⁵) to find a pH of about 4.49.
  • Combining forces. Engineers combine perpendicular forces of 30 N and 40 N into √(30² + 40²) = 50 N.

How to use it

  1. Choose Degrees or Radians for sin, cos and tan. Degrees is the usual choice for school geometry. Radians are standard in calculus and physics.
  2. Type the calculation, or tap the keys. Functions such as sin( or log( open a bracket for you. If you forget a closing bracket at the very end, it's added for you.
  3. Press = or Enter. The answer appears in the display and joins the history list. It also becomes Ans, which you can use in the next calculation.
  4. Use M+ and M− to keep a running total in memory, MR to put it into your line, and MC to clear it. Tap any history line to load that calculation again.

What the inputs mean

Expression
Signs: + − × ÷, ^ (power), ! (factorial) and %. The % sign divides by 100, or after + or − it takes a percent of the number on the left. Functions: sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, sinh, cosh, tanh, log (base 10), ln, √ or sqrt, ∛ or cbrt, abs and exp. Constants: π (or pi), e and Ans. Write 1.5E3 for 1.5 × 10³.
Angle unit
This applies to the angle you give sin, cos and tan, and to the angle their inverses (asin, acos, atan) give back. It doesn't change anything else.
Previous answer (Ans)
This is filled in for you each time you press =. If you use Ans before there's any answer, you'll get a message instead of a number.

Formula and method

Order: ( ) first, then ^ and roots, then × and ÷ left to right, then + and − left to right
−2^2 = −(2^2) = −4      2^3^2 = 2^(3^2) = 512
2(3 + 4) = 2 × (3 + 4)      6 ÷ 2(1 + 2) = 6 ÷ 2 × 3 = 9
x% = x ÷ 100      n! = 1 × 2 × … × n
angle in radians = angle in degrees × π ÷ 180

In the formulas, x is any number and n is a whole number. n! (n factorial) means multiplying every whole number from 1 up to n. ^ means 'to the power of', so 2^3 is 2 × 2 × 2.

The calculator reads your text with its own reader built for math. It never runs what you type as computer code. It follows the rules most textbooks use. Powers are worked from right to left. A minus sign in front of a power applies after the power. Numbers or brackets written side by side are multiplied, ranking the same as × and ÷, from left to right.

In degree mode, sin, cos and tan give exact answers at the common angles. So sin 30° is exactly 0.5 and cos 90° is exactly 0. Answers are kept to 15 digits. That hides the tiny rounding errors that make some computers show 0.1 + 0.2 as 0.30000000000000004.

Worked example

Work out 12 × sin(30) + 2^3 in degree mode.

  1. Brackets and functions first: sin 30° = 0.5.
  2. Multiplication: 12 × 0.5 = 6.
  3. Power: 2^3 = 8.
  4. Addition last: 6 + 8 = 14.

Result: 12 × sin(30) + 2^3 = 14. In radian mode, the same keys give about −3.856. That's because 30 radians is a very different angle from 30°.

Understanding the result

The working panel shows your calculation exactly as the calculator understood it, with every multiplication written out. If that isn't what you meant, add brackets. 1 ÷ (2x) and 1 ÷ 2x are read differently.

When an answer is very large or very small, the scientific-notation line shows it as a number between 1 and 10 times a power of ten. That's easier to compare and to copy into other work.

Assumptions and limitations

  • All arithmetic uses real numbers (the everyday kind). If an answer would need complex numbers, such as √(−4), you get a message instead.
  • Numbers are stored the standard computer way (IEEE double precision). That's accurate to about 15 to 16 digits, and answers are shown to 12.
  • log means the base-10 logarithm, and ln means the natural (base-e) logarithm.
  • Factorials work for whole numbers from 0 to 170. Bigger ones go past the largest number the computer can store.
  • A negative number raised to a fractional power, such as (−8)^(1/3), is reported as not real. Use ∛ for the real cube root of a negative number.
  • It doesn't graph, do algebra with letters or solve equations. The quadratic, logarithm and trigonometry calculators can help with those.
  • After × or ÷, % divides by 100 (80 × 15% = 12). After + or −, it takes that percent of the number on the left, as phone calculators do. So 50 + 10% = 55 and 80 − 25% = 60.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use degrees or radians?

Use degrees when angles are given in degrees, as in most geometry and navigation problems. Use radians in calculus, physics formulas and anything using π as an angle, such as sin(π/6). If a sin, cos or tan answer looks wrong, check the angle mode first.

Why is −3² equal to −9 and not 9?

Powers come before the minus sign in front of them. So −3² means −(3²) = −9. To square negative three, put it in brackets: (−3)² = 9. Most scientific calculators and algebra textbooks follow this rule.

What does 6 ÷ 2(1 + 2) equal here?

9. The bracket is worked first, giving 6 ÷ 2 × 3. Then multiplication and division are done left to right. Some people treat a number touching a bracket as a stronger multiply, which gives 1. So the clearest approach is to add brackets that leave no doubt.

How do I enter a number in scientific notation?

Use the EXP key or type E. 6.02E23 means 6.02 × 10²³, and 1.6E−19 means 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹. The answer's scientific-notation form is shown next to the result.

How does memory differ from Ans?

Ans always holds your latest answer and changes every time you press =. Memory changes only when you press M+ (add the current value) or M− (subtract it). So it can keep a running total across several calculations.

How this calculator is checked

Method: Standard operator precedence and associativity from school algebra; JavaScript Math functions for logarithms, roots and hyperbolic functions; exact special-angle values for degree-mode trigonometry. The calculation is covered by automated tests with known reference values and edge cases. Last updated 2026-10-18. Found a problem? Tell us.

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