88 Section 5: Additional Operating Features

Several options are provided for controlling how numbers appear in the display. But regardless of which display format or how many displayed decimal places you specify, the number inside the calculator — which appears altered in the display — is not altered unless you use the B, !, V, Ý, or #functions.

Standard Display Format. The number 14.87 now in your calculator is currently being displayed in the standard display format with two decimal places shown. To display a different number of decimal places, press f followed by a digit key (0 through 9) specifying the number of decimal places. In the following examples, notice how the displayed form of the number inside the calculator — 14.87456320 — is rounded to the specified number of digits.

Keystrokes

Display

 

f4

14.8746

 

f1

14.9

 

f0

15.

 

f9

14.87456320

Although nine decimal places were

 

 

specified after f, only eight are

 

 

displayed since the display can

 

 

show a total of only 10 digits.

The standard display format, plus the specified number of decimal places, remain in effect until you change them; they are not reset each time the calculator is turned on. However, if Continuous Memory is reset, when the calculator is next turned on numbers will be displayed in the standard display format with two decimal places shown.

If a calculated answer is either too small or too large to be displayed in the standard display format, the display format automatically switches to scientific notation (described below). The display returns to the standard display format for all numbers that can be displayed in that format.

Scientific Notation Display Format

In scientific notation, a number is displayed with its mantissa at the left and a two-digit exponent at the right. The mantissa is simply the first seven digits in the number, and has a single, nonzero digit to the left of the decimal point. The

File name: hp 12c pt_user's guide_English_HDPMF123E27

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Printed Date: 2005/8/1

Dimension: 14.8 cm x 21 cm

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HP 12C Financial 12C manual 14.8746 14.9 14.87456320, Scientific Notation Display Format