Education Technology

Solution 34926: Functionality of the Function Keys [F1 - F5] on the TI-84 Plus Family of Graphing Calculators.

What purpose do the function keys [F1 - F5] serve on the TI-84 Plus family of graphing calculators and how are they used? 

The function keys [F1 - F5] are used to access certain menus and commands.

Pushing [F1 - F4] will open a shortcut menu for commonly used functions.

F1 will open a shortcut for common fraction operations.  These include: creating fractions, mixed numbers, converting fractions to mixed numbers, and converting fractions to decimals.

F2 will open a shortcut for common math operations. These include: absolute value, summation, derivative at a point, integrals, logs with alternate bases, radicals with alternate roots, nPr, nCr, and factorials.

F3 will open a shortcut for creating matrices. It will have options for rows and columns, to change the size of the created matrix.

F4 will open a shortcut for accessing Y-variables used for storing functions. These functions can be viewed by pushing the [Y=] button.

Please Note: Some calculator software applications (apps) will display "softkeys" on the screen that will correspond to these function keys. Also, keep in mind that on some graphing calculator models, the [ALPHA] key must be pressed prior to accessing these function softkeys.

Please see the TI-84 Plus Family guidebooks for additional information.