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Why do even the simplest calculators feature a square root key?
05-05-2018, 11:35 AM (This post was last modified: 05-05-2018 11:55 AM by sasa.)
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RE: Why do even the simplest calculators feature a square root key?
(05-05-2018 06:39 AM)Dieter Wrote:  Where and why does the typical user of a calculator that does not feature anything beyond +, –, × and ÷ need a √ key? Or is it simply because this function is so easy to implement that it is included only because of that?

The answer may lie in todays dedicated IC standardization. While in latest 60's and early 70's, especially at the dawn of electronic calculators in early '60s making simple calculator was quite demanding and expensive task, today is required only low powered COB with appropriated dedicated LCD driver, keyboard scanner and few registers to produce a result. Probably minimum except elementary operation and percentage calculation is calculating square root and having one additional memory storage.

For instance, one of these dedicated ICs is EMPCD081A:
http://www.emc.com.tw/eng/database/Data_...CD081A.pdf

On calculator manufacturer is only to make a design and choose what functionality to support.
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RE: Why do even the simplest calculators feature a square root key? - sasa - 05-05-2018 11:35 AM



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