HP 39G Use and care manual

hp 39g+ graphing calculator
Mastering the hp 39g+
A guide for teachers, students and other
users of the hp 39g+, hp 39g & hp 40g
Edition 1.1
HP part number F2224-90010
Printed Date: 2005/10/11

2
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................12
How to use this Manual..............................................................................13
Early High School.........................................................................................................13
Pre-Calculus.................................................................................................................14
Calculus........................................................................................................................14
Where’s the ON button?.............................................................................15
Some Keyboard Examples.........................................................................16
Keys & Notation Conventions...................................................................17
Some essential keys .......................................................................................................17
The SHIFT key .............................................................................................................17
The ALPHA key............................................................................................................ 18
The Screen keys .......................................................................................................... 18
Pop-up menus & short-cuts..........................................................................................18
Everything revolves around Aplets! .........................................................21
Some typical aplet views .............................................................................................. 22
The HOME view...........................................................................................25
What is the HOME view?.................................................................................................25
Exploring the keyboard...................................................................................................26
The screen keys ........................................................................................................... 26
Aplet related keys......................................................................................................... 26
The arrow keys............................................................................................................. 26
The SYMB, PLOT and NUM keys....................................................................................27
Intro to the VIEWS menu .............................................................................................. 28
The VARS key ............................................................................................................... 28
The SETUP views ......................................................................................................... 30
The MODES view ........................................................................................................... 30
Numeric formats ...........................................................................................................31
The ANS key ................................................................................................................. 32
The negative key .......................................................................................................... 33
The CHARS key............................................................................................................ 33
The DEL and CLEAR keys ............................................................................................34
Angle and Numeric settings...........................................................................................35
Memory Management......................................................................................................37
The MEMORY MANAGER view................................................................................... 37
Downloaded aplets & memory ..................................................................................... 38
The GRAPHICS MANAGER ........................................................................................39
The LIBRARY MANAGER............................................................................................ 39
Fractions on the hp 39g+................................................................................................40
Pitfalls to watch for ....................................................................................................... 42
The HOME History.............................................................................................................43
COPYing calculations...................................................................................................43
Clearing the History...................................................................................................... 44
SHOWing results.......................................................................................................... 44
Storing and Retrieving Memories..................................................................................45
Referring to other aplets from the HOME view...............................................................46
An introduction to the MATH Menu...............................................................................47
Resetting the calculator..................................................................................................48
Soft reboot.................................................................................................................... 48
Soft reboot (Hardware).................................................................................................49
Hard reboot (with memory wipe) .................................................................................. 49
Summary ..........................................................................................................................50

3
The Function Aplet.....................................................................................51
Choose the aplet ..........................................................................................................51
The SYMB view ............................................................................................................. 52
The XTθbutton .............................................................................................................52
ing your function ............................................................................................... 52
The NUM view................................................................................................................53
The PLOT view ............................................................................................................. 53
Auto Scale........................................................................................................................54
The PLOT SETUP view....................................................................................................55
Detail vs. Faster............................................................................................................ 55
Simultaneous................................................................................................................56
Connect ........................................................................................................................56
Axes..............................................................................................................................56
Labels ...........................................................................................................................56
Grid...............................................................................................................................56
The default axis settings ................................................................................................57
The Bar...............................................................................................................57
The MENU toggle......................................................................................................... 57
The Menu Bar functions..................................................................................................58
Trace ............................................................................................................................58
Defn ..............................................................................................................................58
Goto..............................................................................................................................59
The Zoom Sub-menu ...................................................................................................60
Center...........................................................................................................................60
In/Out............................................................................................................................60
Box…............................................................................................................................61
X-Zoom In/Out x4 and Y-Zoom In/Out x4 .................................................................... 62
Square ..........................................................................................................................62
Auto Scale, Decimal, Integer and Trig ......................................................................... 62
The FCN menu.................................................................................................................63
Root ..............................................................................................................................63
Intersection...................................................................................................................64
Slope ............................................................................................................................64
Signed area… ..............................................................................................................65
Definite integrals...........................................................................................................65
Tracing the integral in PLOT .........................................................................................66
Areas between and under curves ................................................................................67
Extremum .....................................................................................................................68
Tips & Tricks - Function.............................................................................69
Finding a suitable set of axes....................................................................................... 69
Composite functions.....................................................................................................71
Using functions in the HOME view ...............................................................................72
Differentiating ...............................................................................................................73
Circular functions.......................................................................................................... 74
Trig functions................................................................................................................76
Retaining calculated values.......................................................................................... 77
The NUM view revisited .............................................................................................. 77
ZOOM...........................................................................................................................78
Integration: The definite integral using the
∫
function ............................................... 80
Integration: The algebraic indefinite integral ................................................................81
The hp 40g Computer Algebra System........................................................................82
Integration: The definite integral using PLOT variables ............................................... 83
Piecewise defined functions ......................................................................................... 85
‘Nice’ scales..................................................................................................................86
Use of brackets in functions .........................................................................................87

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Problems when evaluating limits..................................................................................88
Gradient at a point........................................................................................................90
Finding and accessing polynomial roots ......................................................................91
The VIEWS menu........................................................................................92
Plot-Detail.....................................................................................................................93
Plot-Table .....................................................................................................................94
Overlay Plot.................................................................................................................. 95
Auto Scale .................................................................................................................... 96
Decimal, Integer & Trig.................................................................................................97
Downloaded Aplets from the Internet ...........................................................................99
Curve Areas..................................................................................................................99
Linear Programming.....................................................................................................99
The Parametric Aplet................................................................................100
Choose XRng, YRng & TRng..................................................................................... 100
The effect of TRng......................................................................................................101
TStep controls smoothness........................................................................................ 101
Tips & Tricks - Parametric equations .....................................................103
Fun and games..............................................................................................................103
Example 1...................................................................................................................103
Example 2...................................................................................................................103
Vectors ...........................................................................................................................104
Example 1...................................................................................................................104
Example 2...................................................................................................................105
The Polar Aplet.........................................................................................106
Choose XRng, YRng & θRng .....................................................................................106
θStep and smoothness...............................................................................................106
Changing the default for θStep................................................................................... 106
Circular circles ............................................................................................................106
The Sequence Aplet .................................................................................107
Recursive or non-recursive ........................................................................................107
First, second & general terms ....................................................................................107
Convenient screen keys provided .............................................................................. 108
Tips & Tricks - Sequences & Series........................................................110
Defining a generalized GP and the sum to n terms. ..................................................110
Solving sequence problems .......................................................................................110
Modeling loans ...........................................................................................................112
The Solve Aplet.........................................................................................113
Equations vs. expressions.......................................................................................... 113
Entering the equation .................................................................................................113
Solving for a missing value.........................................................................................114
The INFO report .........................................................................................................114
Multiple solutions and the initial guess....................................................................... 115
Graphing in Solve.......................................................................................................116
Transferring approximate solutions............................................................................ 116
Referring to functions from other aplets .....................................................................117
A detailed explanation of PLOT in Solve....................................................................118
The meaning of messages.............................................................................. 120
Tips & Tricks - Solve ................................................................................121
Easy problems............................................................................................................121
Harder problems.........................................................................................................121

5
The Stats Aplet - Univariate Data............................................................122
Uni vs. Bi-variate data ................................................................................................ 122
Clearing data ..............................................................................................................122
Sorting data ................................................................................................................123
The STATS key ..........................................................................................................123
Functions of columns ................................................................................................. 124
Registering columns as ‘in use’..................................................................................124
Working with frequency tables ................................................................................... 125
Auto scale................................................................................................................... 125
Plot Setup options ......................................................................................................126
Box and whisker graphs ............................................................................................. 126
The effect of HRng .....................................................................................................127
Grouped data & HWidth .............................................................................................127
Tips & Tricks - Univariate Data................................................................129
New columns as functions of old................................................................................ 129
Simulating Dice ..........................................................................................................129
Simulating Random Variables.................................................................................... 130
The Stats Aplet - Bivariate Data ..............................................................132
Uni vs. Bi-variate data ................................................................................................ 132
Clearing data ..............................................................................................................132
Entering data as ordered pairs...................................................................................133
Adjusting the symbols used to plot points .................................................................. 133
The cursor ..................................................................................................................133
Sorting paired columns...............................................................................................134
Specifying the fit model ..............................................................................................134
Multiple data sets ....................................................................................................... 134
Choosing from available fit models ............................................................................135
The User Defined model ............................................................................................135
Connected data ..........................................................................................................136
Two Variable Statistics ............................................................................................... 137
Showing the line of best fit .........................................................................................138
Predicting using PREDY..............................................................................................140
Predicting using the PLOT view..................................................................................140
RelErr as a measure of non-linear fit....................................................................... 141
Tips & Tricks - Bivariate Data..................................................................143
New columns as functions of old................................................................................ 143
Using values from in calculations .................................................................. 143
Obtaining coefficients from the fit model ....................................................................145
Finding Fit Coefficients...............................................................................................145
Correct interpretation of the PREDX function ............................................................ 146
Assigning rank orders to sets of data......................................................................... 147
Using Stats to find equations from point data ............................................................148
The Inference aplet...................................................................................150
Using the Chi2 test on a frequency table ...................................................................150
Hypothesis test: T-Test 1-µ ....................................................................................... 151
Confidence interval: T-Int 1-µ .................................................................................... 153
Hypothesis test: T-Test µ1 -µ2.....................................................................................154
Hypothesis test: Z-Test 1-µ ....................................................................................... 156
Tips & Tricks - Inference..........................................................................158
Importing from a frequency table ...............................................................................158

6
The Finance aplet .....................................................................................160
Parameters................................................................................................................. 160
Straightforward compound interest ............................................................................161
Annuity........................................................................................................................162
Loan calculations........................................................................................................ 162
Amortization................................................................................................................163
The Quad Explorer teaching aplet ..........................................................164
Objectives................................................................................................................... 164
Choosing the level......................................................................................................164
GRAPH mode.............................................................................................................164
SYMB mode ...............................................................................................................165
Self test mode ............................................................................................................166
The Trig Explorer teaching aplet.............................................................167
Objectives................................................................................................................... 167
SIN vs. COS ...............................................................................................................167
SYMB vs. GRPH mode .............................................................................................. 167
Using Matrices on the hp 39g+................................................................170
The MATRIX Catalog ................................................................................................170
Matrix calculations in the HOME view .......................................................................... 171
Solving a system of equations....................................................................................172
Finding an inverse matrix ...........................................................................................174
The dot product ..........................................................................................................175
Using Lists on the hp 39g+......................................................................176
The list variables ........................................................................................................176
Operations on lists......................................................................................................176
Statistical columns as lists..........................................................................................176
List functions...............................................................................................................177
Editing a list ................................................................................................................177
Operations on elements .............................................................................................177
Using the Notepad Catalog......................................................................178
Aplet notes vs. independent notes .............................................................................178
Independent Notes and the Notepad Catalog..........................................................179
Transferring notes using IR ........................................................................................ 180
Editing software.......................................................................................................... 180
Software .........................................................................................................................181
For the hp 38g, hp 39g & hp 40g................................................................................181
For the hp 39g+ .......................................................................................................... 181
Creating a Note..............................................................................................................182
Locking ALPHA mode .................................................................................................182
The CHARS view ......................................................................................................... 183
Corrupting notes.........................................................................................................183
Using the aplet Sketchpad.......................................................................184
Adding text to a sketch ............................................................................................... 184
The DRAW menu ...........................................................................................................185
DOT+.......................................................................................................................... 185
LINE............................................................................................................................185
BOX ............................................................................................................................185
CIRCLE ......................................................................................................................186
Cut and paste (sort of…) ............................................................................................ 186
Capturing the PLOT screen ....................................................................................... 187

7
Using, Copying & Creating aplets...........................................................189
Creating a copy of a Standard aplet............................................................................190
Copying and adding to the Function aplet..................................................................190
Copying and adding to the Stats aplet .......................................................................191
Some examples of saved aplets..................................................................................192
The Triangles aplet.....................................................................................................192
The Prob. Distributions aplet......................................................................................192
The Transformer aplet................................................................................................ 194
Copying from hp 39g+ to hp 39g+ via the infra-red link............................................197
The infra-red port........................................................................................................197
Time out...................................................................................................................... 199
Attached programs .....................................................................................................199
Downloading aplets from the Internet.........................................................................200
Finding aplets .............................................................................................................200
Organizing your collection ..........................................................................................201
Software for the hp 38g, hp 39g & hp 40g ................................................................. 202
Software for the hp 39g+............................................................................................203
The HPGComm Connectivity Program ...................................................................... 204
Deleting downloaded aplets from the calculator ........................................................207
Saving notes, aplets and sketches via the Connectivity Kit .......................................208
Capturing screens using the Connectivity Kit.............................................................210
Editing Notes with the Aplet Development Kit............................................................211
Programming the hp 39g+ .......................................................................212
The design process.......................................................................................................212
An overview................................................................................................................ 212
Choosing the parent aplet .......................................................................................... 212
Naming conventions...................................................................................................213
Planning the VIEWS menu..........................................................................................214
The SETVIEWS command ..........................................................................................214
Special entries in the SETVIEWS command............................................................... 216
The ‘Start’ entry ..........................................................................................................217
Example aplet #1........................................................................................................217
Example aplet #2........................................................................................................222
Example aplet #3........................................................................................................224
Example aplet #4........................................................................................................226
Programming Commands........................................................................233
The Aplet commands....................................................................................................233
CHECK & UNCHECK................................................................................................ 233
SELECT...................................................................................................................... 233
SETVIEWS.................................................................................................................234
The Branch commands.................................................................................................234
IF THEN [ELSE] END...............................................................................................234
CASE..........................................................................................................................234
IFFERR THEN [ELSE] END......................................................................................234
RUN............................................................................................................................235
STOP..........................................................................................................................235
The Drawing commands...............................................................................................235
ARC ............................................................................................................................235
BOX ............................................................................................................................235
ERASE .......................................................................................................................236
FREEZE .....................................................................................................................236
LINE............................................................................................................................236
PIXON and PIXOFF ..................................................................................................236
TLINE .........................................................................................................................236

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The Graphics commands .............................................................................................237
The Loop commands ....................................................................................................237
FOR <var> = <start> TO <end> [STEP] <statements> END .....................................237
DO UNTIL................................................................................................................... 237
WHILE REPEAT.........................................................................................................237
BREAK .......................................................................................................................238
The Matrix commands...................................................................................................238
EDITMAT.................................................................................................................... 238
REDIM ........................................................................................................................ 238
The Print commands.....................................................................................................239
PRDISPLAY ...............................................................................................................239
PRHISTORY...............................................................................................................239
PRVAR .......................................................................................................................239
The Prompt commands.................................................................................................240
BEEP .......................................................................................................................... 240
CHOOSE …. ..............................................................................................................240
DISP ...........................................................................................................................241
DISPXY ......................................................................................................................241
DISPTIME................................................................................................................... 241
GETKEY ..................................................................................................................... 241
INPUT......................................................................................................................... 242
MSGBOX.................................................................................................................... 242
PROMPT ....................................................................................................................242
WAIT...........................................................................................................................242
The MATH menu functions......................................................................243
The ‘Real’ group of functions.......................................................................................246
CEILING .....................................................................................................................246
DEG RAD ................................................................................................................246
FLOOR .......................................................................................................................246
FNROOT ....................................................................................................................247
FRAC..........................................................................................................................247
HMS ........................................................................................................................248
HMS........................................................................................................................248
INT..............................................................................................................................249
MANT .........................................................................................................................249
MAX............................................................................................................................249
MIN .............................................................................................................................250
MOD ...........................................................................................................................250
% ................................................................................................................................250
%CHANGE.................................................................................................................251
%TOTAL..................................................................................................................... 251
RAD DEG ................................................................................................................251
ROUND ......................................................................................................................252
SIGN...........................................................................................................................252
TRUNCATE................................................................................................................ 253
XPON .........................................................................................................................253
The ‘Stat-Two’ group of functions...............................................................................254
PREDY .......................................................................................................................254
PREDX .......................................................................................................................254
The ‘Symbolic’ group of functions..............................................................................255
The = ‘function’ ........................................................................................................... 255
ISOLATE ....................................................................................................................255
LINEAR?..................................................................................................................... 256
QUAD .........................................................................................................................256
QUOTE....................................................................................................................... 257
The | function..........................................................................................................258

9
The ‘Tests’ group of functions.....................................................................................259
The ‘Trigonometric’ & ‘Hyperbolic’ groups of functions...........................................259
COT, SEC etc.............................................................................................................259
EXP ............................................................................................................................260
ALOG.......................................................................................................................... 260
EXPM1 .......................................................................................................................260
LNP1...........................................................................................................................261
The ‘Calculus’ group of functions...............................................................................261
The ‘Complex’ group of functions...............................................................................262
ABS ............................................................................................................................263
SIGN...........................................................................................................................263
ARG............................................................................................................................264
CONJ..........................................................................................................................264
IM & RE ...................................................................................................................... 264
The ‘List’ group of functions........................................................................................265
CONCAT ....................................................................................................................265
∆LIST..........................................................................................................................266
MAKELIST.................................................................................................................. 266
πLIST ..........................................................................................................................267
POS ............................................................................................................................267
SIZE............................................................................................................................268
ΣLIST..........................................................................................................................268
REVERSE ..................................................................................................................268
SORT.......................................................................................................................... 268
The ‘Loop’ group of functions .....................................................................................269
ITERATE ....................................................................................................................269
RECURSE.................................................................................................................. 270
Σ(SUMMATION) ........................................................................................................ 270
The ‘Matrix’ group of functions....................................................................................271
COLNORM .................................................................................................................271
COND ......................................................................................................................... 271
CROSS....................................................................................................................... 271
DET ............................................................................................................................272
DOT ............................................................................................................................272
EIGENVAL..................................................................................................................272
EIGENVV.................................................................................................................... 272
IDENTMAT .................................................................................................................272
INVERSE.................................................................................................................... 273
LQ...............................................................................................................................273
LSQ ............................................................................................................................274
LU ...............................................................................................................................274
MAKEMAT.................................................................................................................. 274
QR ..............................................................................................................................274
RANK.......................................................................................................................... 274
ROWNORM................................................................................................................ 274
RREF.......................................................................................................................... 274
SCHUR....................................................................................................................... 275
SIZE............................................................................................................................275
SPECNORM...............................................................................................................275
SPECRAD ..................................................................................................................275
SVD ............................................................................................................................275
SVL.............................................................................................................................275
TRACE .......................................................................................................................276
TRN ............................................................................................................................276

10
The ‘Polynomial’ group of functions...........................................................................277
POLYCOEF................................................................................................................ 277
POLYEVAL................................................................................................................. 277
POLYFORM ...............................................................................................................278
POLYROOT................................................................................................................279
The ‘Probability’ group of functions............................................................................280
COMB......................................................................................................................... 280
The ! function..............................................................................................................280
PERM .........................................................................................................................281
RANDOM....................................................................................................................281
RANDSEED................................................................................................................281
UTPN..........................................................................................................................282
UTPC..........................................................................................................................283
UTPF ..........................................................................................................................283
UTPT ..........................................................................................................................283
Appendix A: Worked Examples...............................................................284
Finding the intercepts of a quadratic..........................................................................284
Method 1 - Using the QUAD function in HOME. ............................................................284
Method 2 - Using the Function aplet. .........................................................................284
Method 3 - Using the POLYROOT function.................................................................. 285
Finding complex solutions to a complex equation....................................................285
Method 1 - Using the QUAD function.........................................................................285
Method 2 - Using POLYROOT...................................................................................285
Finding critical points and graphing a polynomial....................................................286
Solving simultaneous equations.................................................................................288
Method 1 - Graphing the lines....................................................................................288
Second method - using a matrix................................................................................. 288
Third method - using the 3x3 Solver aplet ................................................................289
Expanding polynomials................................................................................................290
Exponential growth.......................................................................................................291
Solution of matrix equations........................................................................................293
Inconsistent systems of equations .............................................................................294
Using the RREF function............................................................................................294
Finding complex roots..................................................................................................295
Analyzing vector motion and collisions......................................................................296
Circular Motion and the Dot Product...........................................................................297
Inference testing using the Chi2test...........................................................................299
Appendix B: Teaching Calculus with an hp 39g+..................................301
Investigating n yx=for n an integer..........................................................................301
Domains and Composite Functions............................................................................302
Gradient at a Point.........................................................................................................303
Gradient Function..........................................................................................................304
The Chain Rule ..............................................................................................................305
Optimization...................................................................................................................305
Area Under Curves........................................................................................................306
Fields of Slopes and Curve Families...........................................................................306
Inequalities.....................................................................................................................307
Rectilinear Motion .........................................................................................................307
Limits..............................................................................................................................307
Piecewise Defined Functions.......................................................................................308
Sequences and Series ..................................................................................................308
Transformations of Graphs..........................................................................................309