Once you've used RPN you can never go back to conventional input notation, it's just so much more efficient and elegant.

Get an RPN calculator. Even if it's a 'vintage' model. It will take about 10 minutes to get the hang of RPN after that you won't want to go back. It is SOOOOOOO much easier than messing with parentheses when dealing with complicated experessions.

I was first introduced to RPN when I was in graduate school in the mid-90s. A professor loaned me his 15C and the manual for weekend and basically challenged me to try it out honestly. So I did, and I can't lie, within an hour I was hooked. I didn't have to write anything down, and in longer equations it was just so much quicker. The next morning I dropped $200 on a 32SII, which I still have to this day. I guess I retired it for a 35S, but I will never sell it. That 32SII got me through the first 10 years of my career. I was heartbroken when HP did away with RPN and the calc division (or most of it). One thing is for sure, I will never be able to go back. Try as I might, I flub using regular calculators all the time. 😂

RPN is what you use when you know what you want the calculator to do.

This made me put batteries in my HP-28C for funsies. Agreed on RPN, I still rock a HP-42S for work.

I love how he starts with the crappy calculator and immediately does 10 minutes of math simplifications by hand just to make it possible to do some final steps with the cheap calculator

I remember around 1994, I was doing tech support in an engineer’s office, and he had an HP-35 charging on his desk. The HP-35 was my first calculator-my father passed it on to me when he upgraded. RPN is just so much easier once you know how to use it. You literally do calculations in the order you would do them by hand. No parentheses needed. Some very complicated math might need more than the HP stack, but newer HP calculators have storage registers where you can put temporary results. N cell batteries are fairly easy to get. I have seen them in supermarkets recently. It’s not like some older Mercury cell batteries used in old cameras where the batteries aren’t sold any more and the voltage doesn’t match anything else.

On a Casio, press the [ENG] or [SHIFT] [ENG] key to display the result in scientific notation.

I enjoyed this. I pulled my HP 48SX out of the drawer and did the calculation in a few seconds. I really think RPN calculators are the best for any calculation that has multiple elements like this. They take a little getting used to, but especially on ones like your 28S or my 48SX, where you can see a few of the stack levels, it's very easy to see what's happening.

"Which calculator is the best for physics?" The one you know how to use! But seriously, RPN calculators are MADE for this sort of thing. So you want to use Python. Sure, but the topic is *calculator* .

I'm a physicist. For numerical results, I use an RPN calculator. I do have an HP-15C Collector's edition, but I prefer the clones from SwissMicros (they have a better keyboard, IMO), which is my standard (but it's expensive). There's also the HP-35S, which is a good one, but has some quirks (mostly the font they used, which makes it hard to read the comma and other things, plus some functions which do not work as expected in complex mode). If I need more, that is, graphing or CAS, I still have an HP50g (which is GREAT). Another one I can recommend is the HP Prime. It still has an RPN mode, but it doesn't quite work well. But the CAS and graphing part are spectacularly good. The software has some issues, which probably won't get fixed, since HP doesn't have a team anymore that can support and update it (such as the CAS using lower case x as default variable, the graph part using upper case X. So you cannot easily copy'n'paste a function from one to the other. This might be a requirement for schools to prevent cheating, though.) SwissMicros makes some clones of older HP RPN. The DM-42 is a clone of the HP-42 with updated software using 34 (!) (in words THIRTY-FOUR) digits. It's a beast! But they are expensive (the DM-15L, clones of the HP-15c, cost CHF 135 plus S&H).

Cool video. The Casio fx-115ES is actually quite a powerful scientific calculator. For this example, you could have used the solver function. You just enter your equation, then click SHIFT->SOLVE and it will allow you to find a solution for h. You don't even have to re-arrange the equation to isolate the variable. There's also a Constants library which contains values like G, etc.

I started off with an expensive programmable TI calculator then soon switched over to an HP-15C an never looked back. PRN is the way to go hands down...

The 42s is the best calculator for physics, engineering; another option is WP34s Calculator in your pocket. Cool!

The HP-15C is to die for!

The Casio could be used better: 1. Casio as a negative sign 2. It also has a fracture option so you could use that instead division

my very first HP was the 28S, I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I saw yours; the pain is real. I still love that one, but live with a 48SX these days.

I wound like to answer you that a college sci-calculator can handle many cases of physics and chemistry aspects of calculation. In Hong Kong, most of the students use the CASIO sci-calculators just OKAY!

It was a shame that the HP-11C was not working....that would have been best

OK, the Python part was mildly interesting (but only because I have never seen that particular language... honestly it looks a lot like basic so no big deal). I did like the demo of using the cheap calculator to do the calculation. "Luckily" the exponents worked out. You messed up the scientific calculator part so badly it is both nearly useless and overly complex. What's with adding unnecessary parentheses all over the place. And the Casio is only similar to the other calculators in that it looks the same. The main difference being that you can replay the calculations. And that, my friends, allows you to create a "program" on the fly. I am still a newby using the "newer" HP calculators (48g and 49/50G) but I believe they can be programmed on the fly too. You can also enter the equation exactly as shown using the equation writer. Even the HP41C (1979 era calculator) allowed you to assign values letters (a=2, b=4 ...) and use them in calculations.

I still use my hp 41 RPN calculator for 40 years’

Waits until 10k subs so he has time to work out how to use sliderule.

RPN Rocks!

HP 12C to clear is two key operation. Press the gold "g" key bottom third key from the left then clx (left arrow key) the key to the left of ENTER key.

I have a PhD in electrical and computer engineering. I used the Casio fx-115es throughout graduate school. I cannot see how you can really improve over being able to enter your equations in one shot with a view similar to how you would write it out on paper!? I never understood why some people insist that RPN is superior. I guess some take pride in doing things in difficult and cryptic ways so they can feel they are smarter than others. The Casio in this video is all you need for in person exams in engineering graduate school. If assignments require large matrix calculations...just use Python with CUDA and a GPU and let that be it. Some of the real "smart" people in graduate school that use RPN also insisted upon doing modern machine learning in C/C++ because Python isn't a "real" language. These same people never finished their graduate studies.

Can't wait to see the slide rule video!

Shout out to my fx-115ES that got me through Numerical Analysis exams. Finished exams first, and quicker than those who had full algorithms programmed into their calculators.

I wish he had done a more complex problem, perhaps using gravitational potential energy or some form of that

Looking at around 13:10 for example, any RPN will smoke any of these algebraic (T.I., Casio, etc.) calculators. Hands down. Millenials and Gen Zer's don't seem to have the motivation to learn it, too bad.

As someone who used and loved an HP-28S, I am screaming at that section. Even if you DID have the batteries you might not be able to keep the battery door from falling to pieces.

with a TI you can enter variables inside your expression, then use a substitution rule to evaluate different inputs just like you did in python so you can get both the expression structure and quick value exploration on big expressions, try that with RPN !

I have used most all of those calculators. Most of the time I reach for the cheep Casio.

So much easier with an HP-15C calculator...much fewer keystrokes...

In my opinion, Mathematica is best for studying physics. I used mathematica for studying in matheMatics. It's very nice I get idea wile let Mathematica solve easy but cumbersome formula. Writting source of mathematica promote mathematical idea and mathematica's solving reduce the idea disturbance of easy but cumbersome calculation. And calculator is for getting result of formula latter than idea of mathematic or physics.

I prefer to use the HP-41cv calculator. If you know how to program, store, and run the HP-41 program, it helps to solve too many scientific problems.

I do a LOT of calculations every day (engineer)...though I have a soft spot for RPN, a basic TI-30XA is inexpensive and does everything I need. They cost $10-15 and can be found pretty much anywhere.

I really love the Sharp EL506p and clones. They're dirt cheap, practically omnipresent, and pack tons of features into ~13 inches squared. Ps: They often have advertise themselves with "56 functions".

Hey! You forget the slide rule 😊

I'm a big fan of the TI-36X Pro. No graphing, but I usually just use a desktop app or Python for that.

He doesn’t know that CLx on the 15C clears the X register? Next, his calculators are so banged up? As he says he’s not a calculator guy. What’s he doing with them when he can’t even take good care of them? For starters, look at what his 28S looks like.

*lol* "Where is clear on a HP 12c?" He probably sees "CLX" but doesn't realise that this is the clear button! 🤣

I have this question since I was child, Is the Solar Panels Really works in calcultors?

min 16:52 HP 28S ... "mi calculadora real de la universidad".... !!!

I had a TI59 or maybe tI58 LOVED IT. LATER HP28s AFTER SCHOOL LIMITED EDITION hp15c. rpn does rule.

Dang, toss that Frankenstein HP 28S in the trash and just find the clr button on the HP 12 C

Physics is better when numbers are left out as much as possible.

having that swanky hp 28C there is no need for "Python" online ! The best calculator is the one one is used to. its a silly & stupid thing using a bunch of different calculators !

As soon as you bring out the slide rule, many young men will bail out on this video. They are gone. FYI...

I think this is a great, great video. Illustrating all the various calculators, and then python. I am getting better with python....playing with it a lot and learning the code. I'm not master, but I enjoy the results. Your examples have helped and I have read a lot on my own too.

Clear button??? "CLX"...

Crikey - very poor video. Very unprepared. Why show a calculator on video to find out it's not working.

Try putting trinket in your shirt pocket...

Can you make more videos on how to solve problems using outthink.

TI-98 all the way

Watching a guy who actually understands RPN at some level struggle with the HP12C and actually give up was really painful, but illustrates the problem with RPN calculators. You do not have to clear the display, it is a stack, just start entering the new number (but you can clear the display with blue shift, CLX if you really want to). I agree with the RPN fans that RPN is better if you have a simple numeric display like the earlier models, but if you have a display that can show whole expressions like the TI-83, or better still one that can display proper 'text book format' on a graphical display, that is better than RPN because you can check your work and are less likely to make mistakes. Also you can edit the expressions if you want to calculate a similar expression without having to enter the whole expression again as you would with RPN.

^^ 2nd hand TI-83+ is easily found under 10€

Hey man! I have a TON of TI old LED calculators and repair them with new Lithium-Ion battery packs. Hit me up if you need any help and I can send over how I do it!

And of course the HP 42S, often seen as the best of the non-graphing HP RPN. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mdeCp9GItdO4mKs.html Love mine when not using a computer.

Never liked HPs RPN. All my co-workers used a RPN HP with a program module. I wrote my own programs on a Tandy PC-6 Pocket Scientific Computer with 16K memory expansion. I would be long finished while they were still cycling through the canned program variable options. Just found a HP32Sii in excellent shape for $5.99 at a thrift store. The features look interesting so I bought an owners manual. This does what I currently need but I have to learn formula conversion for RPN entry.