This function can add a lot of clutter, but might also help you make more sense of your picture. GridOff and GridOn set whether or not you want a basic grid overlay displayed on your graph. RectGC and Polar GC let us choose how coordinates are displayed when using the TRACE function.ĬoordOn and CoordOff toggle whether or not coordinates are displayed when using the TRACE function. This is reached by pressing 2nd ZOOM (you’ll see FORMAT written above the key) and lets us control a variety of aspects of how the graph is formatted.
Now let’s take a quick look at the Format menu. Note that on older calculators such as the TI-83 Plus, this zoom level may not be available, it’s one of the few features added in the TI-84 Plus is that of some simple symbolic fraction capabilities.
This gives us a nice way to use the trace function with the graph of x 2. Let’s go back again and choose ZFrac1/10 (Zoom Fraction 1/10). In other words, the window is just a numerical interface for this. We could input values here for the various boundaries in the window, but it’s usually easier to remember that you can also set these parameters on the Zoom menu. The Window menu shows us the current zoom settings, and you’ll notice that Xscl (xscale) is pi/2, which determines how far apart our tick marks are on the x axis. Go over another 6, and we have the value at pi/2. 785, which is pi/4, so each left or right tick is pi/24 in this mode. You’ll notice that the points the Trace function chooses might not appear nice, but press ▶ six times and we see that it displays the value at. First though, let’s press ▼ to switch from x 2 to the sine wave, which is indicated in the upper left corner. We reach this by pressing the TRACE button, and it allows us by pressing ◀ and ▶ to see the exact values of the function on our graph. We can see exactly two periods in our sine wave and the tick marks that correspond to integral portions of the graph.
The ZoomTrig function, reached by pressing 7 on the Zoom menu gives us a really nice picture. We want to get a closer look at our sine wave, so let’s go back and try out a different zoom function, ZoomTrig. The ZoomFit feature can work very well sometimes, but it can’t always read your mind. The equations are re-graphed, and while the graph of y = x 2 looks nice, it’s difficult to see the graph of the sine wave. We can reach this by scrolling down on the Zoom menu and selecting ZoomFit (Option 0). They deserve as much.One easy function to use is ZoomFit. And there you have it! The ratio of y₂ / x₂ is your gradient or the steepness of the mountain at that point.įor sticking around while you perform your quick experiment, go and buy that skier some hot chocolate or hug the tree. Remember to count the distance between you two horizontally, not parallel to the slope. Tell the tree or the skier to stand still while you use your handy ruler (that you always carry around with you, of course) to count how much higher/lower they are from you (that will be y₂) and how far they are from you (that will be x₂). Or an old smelly one, for that matter I'm not judging. You look around to find some particularly bushy tree or a pretty young skier. Now we're left with finding a second point, (x₂,y₂), up or down the slope. well, center, that is, the point (x₁,y₁) = (0,0) on the plane. As we've mentioned above, all you need is two points to find the gradient, so why not be a little self-centered and choose yourself as the. You stop and think about it before going any further. Let's say you're skiing down a slope when The Big Question hits you. Before we look at what the gradient is, let's return to our mountain scene and the absolutely crucial question of steepness.