GCSE Tutoring Programme
"Our chosen students improved 1.19 of a grade on average - 0.45 more than those who didn't have the tutoring."
In order to access this I need to be confident with:
Place value Rounding decimals Significant figuresThis topic is relevant for:
Here we will learn about calculator skills, including the buttons that help us navigate the calculator display with ease, functions that we need for basic calculations and how to complete more complex calculations to demonstrate calculator proficiency.
There are also calculator skills worksheets based on Edexcel, AQA and OCR exam questions, along with further guidance on where to go next if youβre still stuck.
Calculator skills enable us to confidently carry out any calculations on a calculator.
We need to know how to use several specific buttons to be proficient using a calculator for complex calculations.
For example, if we want to square -4, we need to write (-4)^2
We can also raise numbers to any power using the \bf{x^β} button. Again, we need to remember to use brackets for any negative numbers.
We can also calculate any root of a number using the \sqrt[β]{β‘} button.
For example, to find 40\% of 300 we would type 40\% \times 300.
The calculator automatically opens brackets when you press the sin, cos, or tan buttons. We must close these brackets before we complete the calculation. We must always make sure that what we have entered on the calculator display matches the questions exactly.
In order to carry out complex calculations on a calculator:
Get your free calculator skills worksheet of 20+ questions and answers. Includes reasoning and applied questions.
COMING SOONGet your free calculator skills worksheet of 20+ questions and answers. Includes reasoning and applied questions.
COMING SOONCalculator skills is part of our series of lessons to support revision on arithmetic. You may find it helpful to start with the main arithmetic lesson for a summary of what to expect, or use the step by step guides below for further detail on individual topics. Other lessons in this series include:
Calculate \frac{2}{3}+\frac{1}{2}. Give your answer as a mixed number.
We will need to use the fraction button.
2Enter the calculation into the calculator.
On the calculator we press the buttons,
3Check the calculator display matches the question exactly.
4Press ββ= and copy down all the figures on the calculator display.
The answer to this calculation is displayed as \frac{7}{6}.
5Round or simplify if the question asks for it.
We need to give the answer as a mixed number. To do this we need to press shift and use the toggle button on the calculator to convert our answer into a mixed number.
The final answer to this question is then displayed on the calculator.
6Write your final answer.
The final answer is 1 \frac{1}{6}.
Calculate \frac{2+\sqrt{2}}{1+\sqrt{2}}.
Decide which calculator buttons to use.
We will need to use the fraction button and the square root button.
Enter the calculation into the calculator.
On the calculator we will press the buttons,
Notice that pressing the direction button once moves the cursor out from under the square root and pressing it a second time moves it to the denominator of the fraction.
Check the calculator display matches the question exactly.
Press ββ= and copy down all the figures on the calculator display.
The answer to this calculation is displayed as \sqrt{2}.
Round or simplify if the question asks for it.
The question does not ask us to change the form of the answer.
Write your final answer.
The final answer is \sqrt{2}.
Evaluate 8^{3}.
Decide which calculator buttons to use.
We will need to use the cube button.
Enter the calculation into the calculator.
On the calculator we press the buttons,
Check the calculator display matches the question exactly.
Press ββ= and copy down all the figures on the calculator display.
The answer to this calculation is 512.
Round or simplify if the question asks for it.
The question does not ask us to change the form of the answer.
Write your final answer.
The final answer is 512.
Calculate \frac{183+892}{10.4 \times 8.75}. Write your answer to 2dp.
Decide which calculator buttons to use.
We will need to use the fraction button.
Enter the calculation into the calculator.
On the calculator we press the buttons,
Check the calculator display matches the question exactly.
Press ββ= and copy down all the figures on the calculator display.
The answer to this calculation is displayed in fraction form \frac{1075}{91}.
Round or simplify if the question asks for it.
The question asks us to give the answer to 2dp. We need to use the toggle button to convert the answer into decimal form.
As a decimal the answer is 11.813186.
Rounded to 2dp this is 11.81.
Write your final answer.
The final answer is 11.81.
Use your calculator to work out \frac{\sqrt{12.36-5.12}}{2.97^{2}}.
Write down all the figures on your calculator display.
Decide which calculator buttons to use.
We will need to use the fraction button, the square root button and the square button.
Enter the calculation into the calculator.
On the calculator we press the buttons,
Check the calculator display matches the question exactly.
Press ββ= and copy down all the figures on the calculator display.
The answer to this calculation is 0.3050397136.
Round or simplify if the question asks for it.
The question does not ask us to change the form of the answer. It asks us to write down all the figures on the calculator display.
Write your final answer.
The final answer is 0.3050397136.
Use your calculator to work out \sqrt{12^{2}+15^{2}-54 \operatorname{Cos}(60)} .
Give your answer to 2 decimal places.
Decide which calculator buttons to use.
We will need to use the square root button, the square button and one of the trigonometric function buttons, in this case, cos.
Enter the calculation into the calculator.
On the calculator we press the buttons,
Check the calculator display matches the question exactly.
Press ββ= and copy down all the figures on the calculator display.
The answer to this calculation is displayed in surd form 3 \sqrt{38}.
Round or simplify if the question asks for it.
The question asks us to give the answer to 2dp. We need to use the toggle button to convert the answer into decimal form.
As a decimal the answer is 18.49324201.
Rounded to 2dp this is 18.49.
Write your final answer.
The final answer is 18.49.
We must use brackets if we use a calculator to square a negative.
Pay close attention to how you should give your answer – what form it should be in and whether it should be rounded.
If you need to do something else after a function, make sure you move out of that function. For example, if you need to calculate \sqrt{7.2+4.1}-3, a common error is to not move out of the square root and therefore type \sqrt{7.2+4.1-3}.
You should notice that this is different to the original calculation, where the 3 is not within the square root function.
Make sure you close the brackets at the end of a trigonometric function. For example, if you want to calculate \cos(30)+6, typing cos into the calculator automatically gives you the open bracket. If you donβt close the bracket after you have typed 30, your calculation will be incorrect.
\cos(30+6) is different to \cos(30)+6 .
1. Use your calculator to work out \frac{3.21+4.89}{5.62-1.89}.
Write your answer to 2 decimal places.
2. Use your calculator to work out \frac{5}{8}-\frac{2}{9}. Give your answer as a fraction.
3. Use your calculator to work out \frac{\sqrt{8.4+19.2}+6}{3^{2}}. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
4. Use your calculator to work out the following \sqrt[6]{(-3)^{8}}.
Write down all figures on the calculator display.
Math error
5. Use your calculator to work out 3\sin(40)+12.6^{2}. Give your answer to the nearest whole number.
6. Use your calculator to work out \sqrt{\frac{\tan(30)+6^{2}}{5tan(30)}}. Write down all the digits on your calculator display.
1. Work out \sqrt{\frac{2.5 \times \sin(43)}{8.2^{2}-50.5}}.
Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
(2 marks)
(1)
0.319(1)
2. Work out \sqrt{\frac{17+4^{2}}{7.3^{2}}}.
Write down all the figures on your calculator display.
(2 marks)
5.74(45626β¦) or 53.29 or 0.11 or 0.107 or 0.108
(1)
0.1077981356(1)
3. Work out \sqrt{\frac{13.82}{4.06}}.
Write down all the figures on your calculator display.
(2 marks)
3.403(940887β¦) or 3.717(526059β¦) or 2.014(944168β¦)
(1)
1.844977205(1)
You have now learned how to:
Prepare your KS4 students for maths GCSEs success with Third Space Learning. Weekly online one to one GCSE maths revision lessons delivered by expert maths tutors.
Find out more about our GCSE maths tuition programme.