A calculator that understands whole expressions
A basic calculator works one operation at a time, which makes long expressions easy to get wrong: type 3 + 5 × 2 into a simple calculator that works strictly left to right and you may see 16, when the correct mathematical answer is 13. This scientific calculator reads the whole expression at once and applies the standard order of operations, so what you type is what mathematics means. You can type an expression in the box, build it with the keypad buttons, and switch trigonometry between degrees and radians.
Supported operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, powers with ^, modulo (remainder) with %, brackets, and the functions sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, sqrt, cbrt, ln (natural logarithm), log (base-10 logarithm), exp and abs, plus the constants pi and e.
The order of operations
Work out anything inside brackets first, then powers such as 23, then multiplication, division and modulo from left to right, and finally addition and subtraction from left to right. Powers associate to the right, so 2^3^2 means 2^(3^2) = 29 = 512, not (2^3)^2 = 64. The step-by-step panel below the calculator shows the bracket simplifications for your own expression.
Degrees or radians?
Angles for sin, cos and tan can be measured in two units. Degrees divide a full turn into 360 parts and are what most school geometry uses: sin(30) means the sine of 30 degrees, which is 0.5. Radians measure angles by arc length, with a full turn equal to 2pi; calculus almost always uses radians. The inverse functions asin, acos and atan return their answer in whichever unit you selected, so asin(0.5) gives 30 in degrees mode and about 0.5236 in radians mode. Choosing the wrong mode is the most common reason a trig answer looks wildly wrong, so check the selector first.
Logarithms and roots
Two logarithms are provided because different fields prefer different bases. ln is the natural logarithm, base e, used in growth, decay and calculus. log here is base 10, used in scales such as pH, decibels and earthquake magnitude: log(1000) = 3 because 103 = 1000. Roots are written as functions: sqrt(144) = 12 and cbrt(27) = 3, and you can also write fractional powers such as 8^(1/3).
Worked example
Type (2 + 3) * (4 - 1). The brackets are worked out first: 2 + 3 = 5 and 4 - 1 = 3, then 5 × 3 = 15. In degrees mode, sin(30) = 0.5, and log(1000) = 3.
How to use this calculator
- Type your expression, or build it with the keypad buttons.
- Choose Degrees for school-style angles, or Radians for calculus-style angles.
- Press Calculate — the result also appears in scientific notation and rounded to 6 decimal places.
- Read the step-by-step panel to see each bracket simplified in turn.
- If you see an error message, check brackets and function spelling first.
Common mistakes to watch for
Missing multiplication signs are the first trap: this calculator expects 2*(3+1), not 2(3+1). The second trap is the power tower: because ^ associates to the right, add brackets if you mean (2^3)^2. Third, remember that tan is undefined at 90 degrees and its multiples, ln and log need a positive input, and sqrt needs a non-negative input — the calculator will tell you plainly instead of returning a misleading number. Finally, % here is modulo, the remainder after division (10 % 3 = 1), not percent. For everyday percentage problems, the dedicated percentage tools in Related Calculators are clearer.
A final practical tip: when a recipe or a scale model gives you fractions in awkward denominators, convert both fractions to the common denominator shown in the working here before you start measuring. Scaling each ingredient separately in mixed units is where most kitchen and workshop fraction errors are born, and one shared denominator makes the comparison — and the shopping list — obvious at a glance.