HP 33s Scientific Keying in Numbers, Making Numbers Negative, Exponents of Ten, 14Getting Started

Keying in Numbers

You can key in a number that has up to 12 digits plus a 3–digit exponent up to ±499. If you try to key in a number larger than this, digit entry halts and the ¤ annunciator briefly appears.

If you make a mistake while keying in a number, press bto backspace and delete the last digit, or press ‡to clear the whole number.

Making Numbers Negative

The ^key changes the sign of a number.

„To key in a negative number, type the number, then press ^.

„To change the sign of a number that was entered previously, just press ^. (If the number has an exponent, ^ affects only the mantissa — the non–exponent part of the number.)

Exponents of Ten

Exponents in the Display

Numbers with exponents of ten (such as 4.2 ⋅ 10–5) are displayed with an  preceding the exponent (such as ).).

A number whose magnitude is too large or too small for the display format will automatically be displayed in exponential form.

For example, in FIX 4 format for four decimal places, observe the effect of the following keystrokes:

Keys:	Display:	Description:
.000062	) _	Shows number being entered.
‘	)	Rounds number to fit the display
		format.
.000042 ‘ ).		Automatically uses scientific notation
		because otherwise no significant
		digits would appear.

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