A standout feature of the 42s and Free42 is their complex number and function capabilities. Plotting, on the other hand, is not a strength. However, Plus42 adds built-in 2D plotting capability.
I'm wondering if anyone has tried using Plus42 2D plot commands to plot complex functions for any purpose (e.g., pole-zero diagram, Nyquist plot of complex frequencies, complex roots of polynomials, contour integration, etc.).
I haven't used the Plus42 PLOT menu for complex functions myself, so I can only provide some general remarks:
PLOT only creates 2D function graphs. You can plot RPN programs or equations. You can plot any of the program's or equation's parameters against any other, holding the rest constant for the plot.
The constants, which you can set using the CONST sub-menu, can have values of any type, but the plot parameters, which you specify using the XAXIS and YAXIS functions in the PARAM sub-menu, must be real numbers, or numbers with units.
(04-09-2024 03:52 PM)carey Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you Csaba!
These videos are great. Your use of popular calculators to do complex engineering computations and plots is amazing!
Thank you!
... and both without any programming.
Yes about “without any programming”!
What I find appealing about non-programming approaches to complex calculations (on non-flagship hardware) from a pedagogical perspective is that students are directly involved in the calculations (and the complex plane), and the calculations exploit the kinesthetic sense (an additional pathway to the brain), all helpful for learning.
These are unique features of using handheld calculators for learning, especially for non-intuitive topics (e.g., Nyquist plots in the complex plane as in the video). While programming can be fun and offers its own learning benefits, there seems to be value in real-time interactivity and exploration (with haptic feedback) provided by non-programming use of handheld calculators.
Not surprisingly, graphical exploration is one of the many reasons for TI graphing calculator popularity in U.S. high schools, as relatively few students actually use or need their programming features. The first HP graphing calculator that de-emphasized programming was the HP-38g. But by then (1995), TI already had two generations of high school graphing calculators on the market (TI-81 and TI-82) and by the time the TI-83 was released (1996), it seems like HP’s battle for the U.S. h.s. educational market was already becoming a lost cause.
