Scientific Calculator
Type an expression such as 2π × sin(30) or ncr(52, 5) and read the result as you type. Trigonometry works in degrees, radians or gradians, exact answers stay exact (sin 30° is 0.5, not 0.49999…), and anything that had to be rounded is marked with ≈.
Press Enter or = to confirm. Use × ÷ or * / , and a dot for decimals.
Result
Type an expression, or use the keys below.
More functions
Try an example
The calculation runs in this browser tab. Nothing you enter is uploaded, saved or logged.
What is a scientific calculator?
A scientific calculator goes beyond the four operations. It handles powers and roots, logarithms and exponentials, trigonometric functions, factorials, combinations and the usual constants such as π and e, and it follows the order of operations so that a whole expression can be typed at once instead of one step at a time.
This one works on exact fractions rather than on binary floating-point numbers, the way most programs and many calculators do. That is why 0.1 + 0.2 is exactly 0.3 here, and why 1 ÷ 3 × 3 is exactly 1. Where an exact answer does not exist, for example √2, sin 45° or ln 10, the result is calculated to 60 significant figures and shown rounded, with ≈ in front to say so.
How to use the Scientific Calculator
- Type your expression in the field, or build it with the keys. The result appears under the field as you type; closing parentheses you have not typed yet are added for you.
- Choose the angle unit (degrees, radians or gradians) before using sin, cos, tan or their inverses. Degrees are selected at first.
- Press Enter or the = key to confirm. The result is stored as ans, so you can use it in the next expression, and it is added to the history.
- Use M+ and M− to add to or subtract from the memory, MR to insert it as mem, and Copy result to copy the number as plain text.
- If something is wrong, the message says what and the faulty part is underlined. Reset clears the field, the history, the memory and the settings.
Formula
- Order of operations
- ( ) → ! and % → ^ → unary − → × ÷ and implicit multiplication → + −
- Powers
- a^b^c = a^(b^c) −a^b = −(a^b) a^−b = 1 ÷ a^b
- Percent
- x% = x ÷ 100
- Degrees to radians
- radians = degrees × π ÷ 180 (200 gradians = π radians)
- Logarithm in any base
- log(x, b) = ln x ÷ ln b
- Combinations
- ncr(n, r) = n! ÷ (r! × (n − r)!)
- Permutations
- npr(n, r) = n! ÷ (n − r)!
- Remainder
- mod(a, b) = a − b × floor(a ÷ b)
The functions and constants you can use:
Roots and powers: sqrt(x), cbrt(x), root(x, n), exp(x), abs(x).
Logarithms: ln(x), log(x) or log(x, base), log2(x).
Trigonometry: sin(x), cos(x), tan(x), asin(x), acos(x), atan(x), atan2(y, x), rad(x), deg(x).
Hyperbolic: sinh(x), cosh(x), tanh(x), asinh(x), acosh(x), atanh(x).
Rounding: floor(x), ceil(x), trunc(x), round(x) or round(x, places), sign(x).
Whole numbers: mod(a, b), gcd(a, b), lcm(a, b), ncr(n, r), npr(n, r).
Other: min(a, b, …), max(a, b, …).
Constants: pi, e, ans, mem. Brackets [ ] and { } work like parentheses.
Implicit multiplication has the same rank as ×: 2π, 3(4 + 5) and 2sqrt(9) work, and 1/2π means (1 ÷ 2) × π. Two bare numbers side by side, as in 2 3, are refused rather than guessed.
Worked example
Expressions as the calculator evaluates them, in degrees. The values come from the same code that runs when you type.
| Question | Result |
|---|---|
| 0.1 + 0.2 | 0.3 |
| sin(30) | 0.5 |
| 2^10 | 1,024 |
| 2^100 | ≈ 1.26765060023 × 10³⁰ |
| sqrt(2) | ≈ 1.41421356237 |
| 5! | 120 |
| ncr(52, 5) | 2,598,960 |
| -2^2 | -4 |
| ln(10) | ≈ 2.30258509299 |
| sin(pi/6) | 0.5 |
Assumptions and limits
- Results are exact (fractions of two whole numbers) until something forces an approximation: a logarithm, a trigonometric function, a root that is not a whole fraction. After that the value is carried to 60 significant figures and shown with ≈. A sum that cancels down to the noise floor of that precision, such as √2² − 2, is shown as ≈ 0 rather than as a stray 1e-60.
- Classic angles are recognised exactly: in degrees sin 30 is 0.5 and tan 45 is 1; in radians sin(π/6) is 0.5 because π is remembered as π and not as 3.14159…. The inverse functions give exact answers for the same values, and a 60-digit decimal π is treated as π, so sin of it is ≈ 0 and not 1e-61.
- Only real numbers are supported: √−1, ln of a negative number or a negative base with a fractional exponent are reported as undefined. Angles in radians may be up to 10¹⁵; degrees and gradians have no limit. Factorials go up to 3,000!, and results with more than about 30,000 digits are refused.
- Exact whole numbers are written in full up to 20 digits. Longer ones, such as 25! or 2¹⁰⁰, are shown in scientific notation, and their complete digits are listed under the result. The number of significant figures shown (6 to 30) can be changed; it never changes the value that is calculated.
- An expression may have up to 1,000 characters, a number up to 60 digits, and a decimal comma is not accepted (type 1234.5, not 1,234.5). 0⁰ is taken as 1, and rounding is half away from zero: round(2.5) is 3 and round(−2.5) is −3.
Frequently asked questions
Why does sin(30) give exactly 0.5?
Because 30° is a multiple of 30°, and for those angles the sine is a simple fraction, so the calculator returns the exact fraction instead of a decimal approximation. Many programs return 0.49999999999999994 because they work in binary floating point. The same exactness applies to cos 60°, tan 45° and the other classic angles, in degrees, gradians and (with π) in radians.
What does the ≈ sign mean?
It means the number shown is rounded: either it has more digits than are displayed, as with 1 ÷ 3, or it has no exact decimal form at all, as with √2, π or sin 45°. The row labelled 30 digits under the result gives more digits, all of them correct. A result without ≈ is exact.
Is the angle in degrees or radians?
In degrees at first. Choose Radians or Gradians above the keys, and the setting applies to sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan and atan2. To convert a single value regardless of the setting, use rad(x), which turns degrees into radians, or deg(x), which turns radians into degrees: deg(pi) is exactly 180.
Why is −2^2 equal to −4 and not 4?
Because exponents are applied before the minus sign, as in mathematics: −2² means −(2²). To square a negative number, put it in parentheses: (−2)^2 is 4. By contrast 2^−2 is 0.25, since a minus sign directly after the ^ belongs to the exponent, and 2^3^2 is 2^(3^2) = 512 because powers are read from right to left.
How accurate are the results?
Sums, differences, products, quotients, whole powers, factorials and combinations are exact, however many digits they have. Roots, logarithms, exponentials, trigonometry and fractional powers are computed to 60 significant figures with whole-number arithmetic, not with the browser’s floating-point functions, so they give the same digits on every device. At most 30 of those digits are ever displayed.
Can I type 2π or 3(4+5) without a multiplication sign?
Yes. A number, a constant or a closing parenthesis followed by a name, a function or an opening parenthesis is a multiplication, at the same rank as ×. That is why 1/2π means (1 ÷ 2) × π; write 1/(2π) for 1 ÷ 2π. Two numbers side by side, as in 2 3, are not read as 23 or as 2 × 3 but reported as a mistake.
Why does it say that tan(90) is undefined?
Because the tangent is sine divided by cosine, and the cosine of 90° (π/2) is zero. The same holds at 270°, 450° and so on. Near those angles the tangent is a very large number, so the calculator also refuses a radian angle whose cosine is smaller than 10⁻⁴⁰ rather than show a result that would be mostly rounding error.
What happens with very large results such as 100!?
The factorial is exact, so 100! is calculated with all of its 158 digits. The result line shows it in scientific notation, and a row below it lists every digit. There are limits so that the page stays responsive: factorials stop at 3,000!, powers and exponentials that would exceed about 20,000 digits are refused, and the message says which limit was reached.
Does it work with complex numbers?
No. It works with real numbers only, so the square root of a negative number, the logarithm of zero or of a negative number, and a negative number raised to a fractional power are reported as undefined with a short explanation. cbrt(−8) and root(−8, 3) do work, because the odd root of a negative number is real.