How to Do Scientific Notation on the TI-84 Evo

The TI-84 Evo has a dedicated key for scientific notation, labeled EE, so you can enter a number like 3×108 without typing out the times-ten-to-a-power part by hand. A display setting can also make every answer come back in scientific notation.

Enter a number in scientific notation

The EE key is the second function of the comma key, in the right-hand column, so you reach it by pressing 2nd first:

TI-84 Evo keyboard with the comma key highlighted and EE printed in blue above it
  1. Type the number, then the E. For 3×108, press 3, then 2nd and the comma key for a small E, then the power, 8. The line reads 3E8, and that E means "times ten to the".
    The TI-84 Evo home screen showing 3E8 typed on the entry line
  2. Press enter. The calculator shows the number written out in full: 300000000. That is exactly what 3E8 stands for, a 3 followed by eight zeros.
    The TI-84 Evo showing 3E8 evaluated to 300000000

You never type the multiplication sign, the 10, or a power symbol. The EE key stands in for the whole ×10 construction.

Show every answer in scientific notation

The EE key handles what you type in. To make the calculator hand answers back in scientific notation, switch the display mode.

  1. Press mode, in the top-left corner just right of the 2nd key. The mode menu opens, with each row's active setting shown in a dark box.
    The TI-84 Evo mode menu with the second row showing NORMAL, SCIENTIFIC, and ENG
  2. Arrow to SCIENTIFIC on the second row, which reads NORMAL SCIENTIFIC ENG, and press enter. The status bar in the top-left switches from NORMAL to SCI right away.
    The TI-84 Evo mode menu with SCIENTIFIC selected and the status bar now reading SCI
  3. Press clear to return to the home screen. Every answer now comes back in scientific notation, so typing 300000000 gives 3E8.
    The TI-84 Evo in SCI mode showing the plain number 300000000 returned as 3E8

To go back to ordinary numbers, make the same trip and choose NORMAL on that row.

Good to know

  • Small numbers use the negative key. For a power like 10-4, press the (-) key on the bottom row for the exponent, not the subtraction key. So 5, EE, (-), 4 gives 5E-4, which is 0.0005.
    The TI-84 Evo showing 5E-4 entered with the negative key
  • NORMAL mode reaches for scientific notation on its own. A result that is very large or very small comes back in scientific form even in NORMAL mode, which is why you sometimes see an E before you change any setting at all.
  • ENG is engineering notation. The third choice on that row keeps the power in multiples of three, so 240000 reads as 240E3. That lines up with the unit prefixes kilo, mega, and giga.
  • Resetting the calculator puts the display back to NORMAL, the default. If your answers stop showing in scientific notation after a reset, that is where to switch it back on.