I waddled into my first UiL calculator test because the sponsor wanted to get more team members and spent most of my time blown away watching kids entering problems into two calculators simultaneously
I am a decidedly non-mathematical/non-engineering person, but have loved RPN calculators since I bought an HP back in the mid-1970s. RPN is just natural to me, even doing basic arithmetic. I use PCalc in RPN mode on my iPhone.
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I had to look it up:
RPN = reverse Polish notation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation
Wow. In my day it was well-known. HP calculator ads in magazines explained RPN and why it was better.
"Magazine? Had to look it up."
I did UIL competitions in Texas in the late 90s and early 2000s, including calculator competitions.
That's the only place I've ever heard of RPN, which is what nearly all of the winners used, and which we learned to stand a chance.
I waddled into my first UiL calculator test because the sponsor wanted to get more team members and spent most of my time blown away watching kids entering problems into two calculators simultaneously
When I was in high school in the 1980's, the other students knew RPN only as the reason they couldn't borrow my weird calculator.
I am a decidedly non-mathematical/non-engineering person, but have loved RPN calculators since I bought an HP back in the mid-1970s. RPN is just natural to me, even doing basic arithmetic. I use PCalc in RPN mode on my iPhone.