HP HP-18C - The Formula Solver; Introduction

9
The Formula Solver
Introduction
The formula solver (the SOLVE menu) creates custom menus from for-
mulas you enter and uses those custom menus to do calculations.
For example,
suppose you frequently buy carpet and must calculate
how much it will cost. The price is quoted to you per square yard.
Regardless of
how you are doing the calculation (even if you are do-
ing it long-hand), you are using a formula .
Price per Length Width
square yard (feet) (feet)
, //
PPSY x L x W = COST
9
t
Converts square feet to square yards
The SOLVE menu lets you type in this formula. When you press
1IilDI, the HP-18Cs solver creates a custom menu for doing the cal-
culation. Figure 9-1 illustrates
the custom menu created from the
"carpet" formula.
Figure 9·1. A Custom Menu in SOLVE
PPSYxLxW+9=COST ....... t------;--Current formula
0.00
miI .... ~~~ .. ====;-Custom menu
t-t-t-r
I
User-variables
9: The Formula Solver 127