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88 Section 5: Additional Operating Features

File name: hp 12c pt_user's guide_English_HDPMF123E27 Page: 88 of 275

Printed Date: 2005/8/1 Dimension: 14.8 cm x 21 cm

Several options are provided for controlling how numbers appear in the display.

But regardless of which display format or how many displayed decimal places you

specify, the number inside the calculator — which appears altered in the

display — is not altered unless you use the

, or

functions.

Standard Display Format.

The number 14.87 now in your calculator is

currently being displayed in the standard display format with two decimal places

shown. To display a different number of decimal places, press

followed by a

digit key (0 through 9) specifying the number of decimal places. In the following

examples, notice how the displayed form of the number inside the calculator —

14.87456320 — is rounded to the specified number of digits.

Keystrokes Display

14.8746

14.9

15.

14.87456320

Although nine decimal places were

specified after

, only eight are

displayed since the display can

show a total of only 10 digits.

The standard display format, plus the specified number of decimal places, remain

in effect until you change them; they are not reset each time the calculator is turned

on. However, if Continuous Memory is reset, when the calculator is next turned on

numbers will be displayed in the standard display format with two decimal places

shown.

If a calculated answer is either too small or too large to be displayed in the

standard display format, the display format automatically switches to scientific

notation (described below). The display returns to the standard display format for

all numbers that can be displayed in that format.

Scientific Notation Display Format

In scientific notation, a number is displayed with its mantissa at the left and a

two-digit exponent at the right. The mantissa is simply the first seven digits in the

number, and has a single, nonzero digit to the left of the decimal point. The

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