Scientific calculator

What the result means

A scientific calculator evaluates an arithmetic expression using the usual order of operations, plus functions you would find on a physical scientific calculator: trigonometry, logarithms, powers, roots and factorials.

How it is calculated

sin, cos and tan use θ in the chosen angle mode. ln is logₑ. log is log₁₀. n! = 1×2×…×n

• θ: An angle in degrees or radians, depending on the mode.
• π: The circle constant, approximately 3.141592653589.
• e: Euler's number, approximately 2.718281828459.

The parser tokenises the expression, inserts implied multiplication, then evaluates with operator precedence. Function names require parentheses so sin(30) is unambiguous.

Worked example

sin(30°) plus two to the eighth

A student needs sin(30) + 2^8 with the calculator in degrees.

Sine

sin(30°) = 1/2 = 0.5

Power

2^8 = 256

Sum

0.5 + 256 = 256.5

The default example on this page evaluates to 256.5.

Degrees versus radians

Trigonometric functions (sin, cos, tan and their inverses) use the angle mode you select. Degrees are the usual choice for school and surveying work in Australia. Radians are the unit used in most programming and calculus, where a full turn is 2π.

Hyperbolic functions (sinh, cosh, tanh) always use the raw number — they are not angles.

How expressions are read

Multiplication and division happen before addition and subtraction. Powers associate to the right, so 2^3^2 is 2^(3^2) = 512. A number next to a bracket or a constant is multiplication: 2pi and 2(3+4) both work. Percent (%) divides by 100, so 15% is 0.15.

The expression is evaluated in your browser. It is not sent to a server. Share links put the expression in the page URL.

Questions