Description
Push Button, Get Answer – But How?
All modern-day calculators have buttons not just for the basic mathematical operations of addition and multiplication, but also for higher-level operations such as trigonometric functions, logarithms, and exponentials. However, at their core, calculators can only add two numbers at a time. That’s it. Every other operation must be programmed around the basic concept of addition. So, then, how do these programs work?
In this activity, we’ll answer that question for the square root function. You’ve probably pressed the “square root" key hundreds of times without thinking about it. Now, we’ll see what happens next.
Computing Square Roots with Iterative Sequences
Highlights
Description
Push Button, Get Answer – But How?
All modern-day calculators have buttons not just for the basic mathematical operations of addition and multiplication, but also for higher-level operations such as trigonometric functions, logarithms, and exponentials. However, at their core, calculators can only add two numbers at a time. That’s it. Every other operation must be programmed around the basic concept of addition. So, then, how do these programs work?
In this activity, we’ll answer that question for the square root function. You’ve probably pressed the “square root" key hundreds of times without thinking about it. Now, we’ll see what happens next.
