BM1.1 – An Introduction to the TI BAII Calculator

Chapter 1, Lesson 1

In this lesson students will:

purchase the required calculator for this course
understand the basic layout of the calculator
have reference to the main lessons in which the calculator’s functions are first introduced
have reference to the calculator’s manual

Calculator Basics

In our course, we will use the Texas Instruments BAII Plus calculator. From now on, any time we refer to a calculator we will be referring to this one. This calculator is a required part of this course and your business program. You will learn some of the basic functions of this calculator throughout our course. The calculator is available through the campus Bookstore, at local stores such as Staples and Walmart, or online through sites like Amazon.ca. A photo of the calculator is given below for your reference.

The calculator can be divided into four different colored keys.

GREY KEYS: These are your basic number input keys. You can use the key to insert a decimal point and the key to change the sign of a number already on the screen.
WHITE KEYS: These are the input keys for programming complex interest problems and we will cover these keys in more detail later in our course.
BLACK KEYS: These contain your basic operations, as well as arrows that help navigate through the sub-menus of the calculator. Note that the button will toggle the calculator on and off, while the button will clear any work if you have made a mistake.
YELLOW KEY: There is one yellow button labelled . By pressing this button, you will see a small 2nd appear in the top left corner of your display. If you press any other button on the calculator, you will access the secondary feature that is listed above the button in yellow text.