RPN option for school children

General discussion about calculators, SwissMicros or otherwise
Post Reply
User avatar
dm319
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:21 pm
Location: Birmingham, UK

RPN option for school children

Post by dm319 »

Just to continue a 5 year old thread now that there is an HP-15c and DM-32 on the way. Assuming parents are crazy enough to allow their kid to take very expensive pocket calculators into school and risk them getting lost, what calculators are actually going to be allowable for children these days?

In the UK I came across this FAQ about allowed calculators:
Calculators must be of a size suitable for use on the desk, either battery or solar powered and free of lids, cases and covers which have printed instructions or formulas.
Calculators must not be designed or adapted to offer language translators, symbolic algebra manipulation, symbolic differentiation or integration or communication with other machines or the internet.
Calculators must not be borrowed from another candidate during an examination for any reason.
Calculators must not have retrievable information stored in them, including databanks, dictionaries, mathematical formulas or text.
The candidate is responsible for the calculator’s power supply and working condition.
The candidate is responsible for clearing anything stored in the calculator.
An invigilator may give a candidate a replacement calculator.
Curious to know which calculators people think might be ok for school children? Superficially I'm thinking the DM-15L or HP-15c would be ok, but not so sure about the DM-42 (because it would be hard to show it is clear and it can communicate) or upcoming DM-32 (due to the solver?).
SN:09075
User avatar
Walter
Posts: 3070
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 11:13 am
Location: On a mission close to DRS, Germany

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by Walter »

dm319 wrote:
Sat May 06, 2023 3:11 pm
In the UK I came across this FAQ about allowed calculators:
...
Calculators must not have retrievable information stored in them, including databanks, dictionaries, mathematical formulas or text.
...
Curious to know which calculators people think might be ok for school children? Superficially I'm thinking the DM-15L or HP-15c would be ok, but not so sure about the DM-42 (because it would be hard to show it is clear and it can communicate) or upcoming DM-32 (due to the solver?).
Forget all programmable calculators.
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
rawi
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:50 am
Location: Bavaria, Germany

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by rawi »

If all registers are cleared, and all programs are deleted, an HP 15C has no retrievable information stored. So it should fulfill the conditions.
User avatar
Walter
Posts: 3070
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 11:13 am
Location: On a mission close to DRS, Germany

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by Walter »

So if I had to be a teacher, I'd ask to remove all batteries from each calculator and cover its solar cells if applicable, wait for 20 seconds and allow reinserting. Would that be safe (from a teacher's point of view)?

Rats! There may still be flash memory...
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
User avatar
akaTB
Posts: 794
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 1:56 pm
Location: Milan, Italy

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by akaTB »

Walter wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 3:57 pm
So if I had to be a teacher, I'd ask to remove all batteries from each calculator and cover its solar cells if applicable, wait for 20 seconds and allow reinserting. Would that be safe (from a teacher's point of view)?
A 41C often needs hours before depleting its capacitors.
Greetings,
    Massimo
ajcaton
-+×÷ left is right and right is wrong :twisted: Casted in gold
User avatar
Walter
Posts: 3070
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 11:13 am
Location: On a mission close to DRS, Germany

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by Walter »

akaTB wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 4:01 pm
Walter wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 3:57 pm
So if I had to be a teacher, I'd ask to remove all batteries from each calculator and cover its solar cells if applicable, wait for 20 seconds and allow reinserting. Would that be safe (from a teacher's point of view)?
A 41C often needs hours before depleting its capacitors.
HP-41Cx would be banned anyway - that's a device no teacher will overview.
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
H2X
Posts: 885
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 8:00 am
Location: Norðvegr
Contact:

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by H2X »

Children of what age?
What is the metric tensor in imperial units?
User avatar
anetzer
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 8:31 pm

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by anetzer »

Walter wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 4:04 pm
HP-41Cx would be banned anyway - that's a device no teacher will overview.
I remember mine saying that - if I am able to tame such a beast - I could just as well use it. But that was in the eighties... :P

My maths were a lot worse than even my measly programming skills at that time. So it helped a lot...

Well: An HP-21or an HP-31E would surely be admissible. Am I right?

Should you tell if there were any Panamatik parts in it...?
User avatar
dm319
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:21 pm
Location: Birmingham, UK

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by dm319 »

Walter wrote:
Sat May 06, 2023 3:29 pm
Forget all programmable calculators.
I don't think they are banned - it just says that the calculator must not have retrievable information in them. If you can convince the examiner that you have cleared your machine, it should be ok. It says graphical calculators are allowed, and AFAIK, they are largely programmable no?
SN:09075
User avatar
dm319
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:21 pm
Location: Birmingham, UK

Re: RPN option for school children

Post by dm319 »

H2X wrote:
Sun May 07, 2023 6:07 pm
Children of what age?
We have GCSEs (16 yrs) and A-levels (18 yrs) here in the UK - those are the main exams students buy calculators for, and the main market targetted by Casio etc...
SN:09075
Post Reply