Solving Problems Using the TI-82

A graphing calculator can help us solve Pythagorean Theorem problems that you will find in most textbooks. Look at how I used it to solve the following problem.

Notice in the figure above that 10 is the length of the hypotenuse, 5 is the length of one leg, and that x is the length of the other leg. We can use this and the Pythagorean Theorem to solve this problem.

We can use a TI-82 to help us in this problem in three parts of the above problem:

  1. We can use the TI-82 in step (1) to square the numbers in the problem.

  2. We can use the TI-82 in step (2) to reduce the square root using the program you downloaded in the previous section..

  3. We can use the TI-82 to come up with an approximation to the square root answer we get.

Return to the Graphing Calculator MenuReturn to the Graphing Calculator Menu