Introduction

Turn the calculator on by pressing the ON button located in the lower left corner of the TI-92 calculator. The calculator has an automatically turn off feature that will turn off the calculator if it is not used within a 10 minute time span.

To lighten the display, hold down the diamond key (located to the right of the ON button) and press the subtraction key until the screen is visible. To darken the display, hold down the diamond key and press the addition key.

The screen display should look like the diagram below. This screen is called the Home Screen and it is separated into four parts: Tool bar, History Area, Entry Line, and Status Line.

Entry Line

The entry line is where expressions or instructions are entered. To execute an entry, press one of the three ENTER buttons.

After pressing ENTER, the expression is evaluated and placed in the History Area.

An expression/answer in the history area can be viewed as pretty print or standard calculator displays. The answers can be displayed as exact or approximate solutions. An example of each type is shown below.

History Area

The history area shows up to 8 previous entry/answer pairs in the window. When entering an expression, the entry or expression is shown on the left side of the screen and the answer or evaluation is on the right.

When the display is filled, information will scroll off the top of the screen. You can scroll through the history area by pressing the cursor pad (up arrow),.

The default setting gives access to 30 entry/answer pairs, some of which may have scrolled off of the screen. The number of entry/answer pairs may be changes to a maximum of 99. To change the default, press F1 then 9: Format

To copy an entry or answer from the history area and place it on status line, highlight the entry and press any one of the ENTER keys.

Home Screen Tool Bar

Unlike most calculators, the TI-92 has a convenient tool bar or tab menu present at all times. This tool bar will change depending on the Home Screen display. To display the tool bar options, press the function keys F1, F2, etc. You can also use the cursor pad (right or left arrows) to change menus.

The tool bar will change depending on which application or program you run. You can either scroll down to the tool bar operation or press the appropriate number then ENTER.

Press the Escape Key (ESC) to go back to the Home screen. The escape key can be utilized to bring back a previous screen or undo and operation.

F1 ( )

If you press the F1 button, the F1 tab for the home screen opens.

The TI-92 calculator allows you basic word processor type commands to control entries and answers on the home screen. Most of these commands have shortcut keys. The F1 operation that you will probably use the most is 8: Clear Home. This command will clear the history area.

Although the tool bar will change depending on a specific application, the F1 tab remains more or less same no matter which application you run. The only exception to this is when you run a program. Programs may define other operation for the tabs.

F2 (Algebra)

Instead of entering an algebra function with the QWERTY keyboard, the F2 (Algebra) tab can be used as a shortcut. By selecting a number, the function and half of the parentheses are entered on the entry line. We will examine some these functions later.

F3(Calc)

The tab F3 shows common calculus functions.

F4(Other)

The tab F4 shows other useful functions and operations.

F5(Prgm IO)

The tab screen F5 (Pgrm IO) can be opened by pressing the function key F5. This window shows the input and output of programs. Leftover data from programs may be viewed from this screen. This is a separate screen from the home screen. Unless you are running a program, you do not have access to this option. You may clear this screen by pressing F4(Other) then 6: ClrIO then ENTER.

F6 (Clear a-z)

This tab window will clear all one character variables.

Status Line

The status line shows the current state of the calculator. It will change to indicate a mode change or folder change.

The MAIN indicates the current folder.

The RAD shows the angle mode of radians.

The AUTO indicates the exact/approximate mode is set on automatic.

The 9/30 is the history indicator which shows information about entry/answer pairs. The first number 9 represents the total number of pairs that are currently saved and the 30 indicates the maximum number of pairs that can be saved.

The 3D indicates that the graphing mode is set for three dimensions.

There are several other status line indicators available on the TI-92. Check the TI-92 GUIDEBOOK for other indicator values.

Calculator Buttons, Windows and Screens

MODE

Modes can be changed by pressing the MODE key (located to the left of the ESC key), and using the cursor pad (down arrow) to select an option from the open window.

After highlighting, press the right arrow to view options.

To change a mode, highlight the option and press ENTER. If you press ENTER again, you will return to the home screen.

The TI-92 calculator has a number of functions available though the use of the green diamond and the second function keys. Some of these functions are listed on the calculator as direct or second function keys and some are hidden with shortcut keys.

Character

The TI-92 characters can be viewed by pressing the 2nd key then 2 (CHAR).

Special Characters

Pressing the diamond key then K will display the keyboard map for the TI-92 calculator.

To obtain these characters, press the 2nd key then the corresponding letter. For example to display the degree symbol º, press 2nd then D.

MATH

Pressing the 2nd key and 5 (MATH) will open a list of math functions.

CATALOG

Pressing the 2nd key and 2 (CATALOG) will open a list all functions.

You can use the scroll pad(up or down) to navigate through the list or press a letter.

CUSTOM

A program can be written to change the tab keys on the home screen. Pressing the 2nd key and 3 (CUSTOM) will switch tool bars. On my calculator the custom tool bar switches to the screen below.

MEM

If you press the 2nd key then 6 (MEM), a memory window opens. This window shows the variable stored in the calculator memory.

VAR-LINK

Pressing the 2nd key then the subtraction key (VAR-LINK), allows another view of the variable stored in memory.

This window gives you the ability to mange all variable in the TI-92.

APPS

The APPS key is uses when you want to change applications.

Some of the more common applications are also available by using the diamond key and pressing Q, W, E, R, T or Y on the keyboard.