Graph paper, quad-ruled paper, graphing paper or millimeter paper is writing paper that is printed with fine lines making up a regular grid. The lines are often used as guides for plotting mathematical functions or experimental data and drawing diagrams. It is commonly found in mathematics and engineering education settings and in laboratory notebooks.
2009-03-01

Help, My TI-83 / Ti-84 Won't Graph  

It is 8 clock in the night. The dinner is over. They sit on a movie or Monday Night Football - and then it happens. . . "Mommmmmmmmm (or Daddddddddddd), my computer does not work. I have to my math homework tomorrow, and my graph is not displayed."

"This is not so bad", you think. "I have High School Math Heck, I even installed Quicken accounting system at work. How complicated can a computer be?"

The last time when you are with your child the TI-83 or TI-84 was in August in the office market, it was in the front with a basket on top of a pile of three rings books and notebook paper. It did not look so bad then, but now take a closer look, and there are all types of keys you have never before on a computer. At the lower end is somewhat familiar - a normal looking set of key numbers, and on the right side are the usual add, subtract, multiply and divide key. But what the hell are "MODE", "DEL", "STAT", "ZOOM", "Trace", etc.? What will you do? Who ya gonna call?

Relax.

Here are a few simple things to do, but remember that the title of this article is to "Help, my TI-83 /TI-84 will not chart", and that is really everything in this article .

The buttons Graphing

Look at the top row of keys on the computer TI-83/TI-84. There should be five of them, apart from the other buttons, and they should have the following labels:

  [Y =] [WINDOW] [ZOOM] [TRACE] [graphic]  

This is where all your activities will take place.

The three main problems

Most of the time when a graphic is not displayed, there are three reasons for this:



  1. charting function. The image is not correct, or not at all.


  2. diagram is not enabled. The graph is entered correctly, but the graphical representation is not activated.


  3. display window. The window for the function is on the wrong size or location.


We will be with them in a position at a time.

Make sure that the graphics function Properly

Push the [Y =] button at the top of the machine. To get into the Y = editor screen. You should see a screen that looks something like this:

Plot1 Plot2 Plot3

Y1 = 2x +1


Y2 =


Y3 =


Y4 =


Y5 =


Y6 =

The expression "2X +1" is just one example, but you need to see a kind of expression in the Y = editor screen, not just a lot of empty "Y =" lines. If everything you see is the following, then you must use an expression:

Plot1 Plot2 Plot3

Y1 =


Y2 =


Y3 =


Y4 =


Y5 =


Y6 =

If you want to try a really simple expression to ensure that the computer can act, use "Y1 = X". This should be a nice plot 45-degree line directly over the origin of the graphics screen.

Make sure that the graphics function

It is possible that the graphical representation of the function is not activated in the Y = editor screen. This error is somewhat subtle. Look at the "=" sign in the equation you are trying to land "=" character must be underlined.

If this is not the case, you must place the cursor on the "=" sign and press the [ENTER] button to select it.

viewing window must be correct size and position

When the window is on the wrong size or location, the machine's May site, but you will not see on the screen.

There are many ways to customize the display window, but a reliable method is easy to simply "zoom out" until you find the feature you are trying to graph. Push the [ZOOM] button at the top of the machine. Then press "3" to zoom out. Repeat until you see the feature you are trying to graph. Now you should have some idea of what you need to use to see the function drawn. Push the [WINDOW] button at the top of the machine and adjust the display properties as necessary.

 

Sam Mela runs a math tutoring service in Springfield Virginia. For more detailed TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tips go to http://www.WeekendSuccess.com

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