[ale] [OT] Strange Request: Demonstrate a Calculator is Working Correctly

[Tom Freeman]

On Sun, 20 Sep 2015, Jim Kinney wrote:

> 
> Good question!
> 
> I don't have a specific test sequence to offer. I do recall that division is
> the divergent operation based on binary math, endianess and integer size. I
> think a search for "errors in decimal division converted to binary" may help
> find numerical tests.
> 
> That said, the more modern calculators may have error correction for those
> corner cases now.
> 
> All of my calculator failures have been display death or battery leaks.

Prior to this, same thing for me. Doesn't mean that something wasn't going 
wrong, just that I didn't catch it.

I'll take a look for the suggestion above - and thankyou.

> 
> On Sep 20, 2015 9:39 AM, "Tom Freeman" <tfreeman at intel.digichem.net> wrote:
>
>       I ran into a problem a while back, and I'm wondering if anybody
>       has a decent answer.
>
>       Working at the board, I raced the students to get a calculation
>       performed. I shouldn't have bothered. Our respective results
>       diverged about the fourth place, with my little TI-30XA being a
>       minority of one. (Sadly, I didn't think to write the problem
>       down for further investigation.) I switched to a backup graphing
>       calculator, and things went smoothly.
>
>       Question that some googleing hasn't properly answered: How do
>       you test a simple hand calculator to demonstrate proper
>       operation?
>
>       Obviously, the simple response is to dump the suspect
>       calculator. Trash it with extreme predjudice as it were.
>
>       However, since there are individuals on this list who need
>       extended precision in their work, I wonder if they know how to
>       test a hand calculator for correctness.
>
>       Come to think of it - having a faulty calculator or three and a
>       testing procedure might be a good instructional process for
>       students. We do need to trust our equipment, and we need to
>       continuously check it for error.
>
>       In any event, my thanks to the list for the use of their
>       bandwidth.
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> 
>