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physPad Notation

You can enter the following notation in physPad®.

Note Typing a function name such as sin automatically adds parentheses to delimit the argument of the function. This works well most of the time, but as listed in the table, you might sometimes need to navigate out of the parentheses to modify your function, for example, to set the base of a general log function.

Alternative notations for trigonometric functions such as arcsin and sin-1 are graded identically.

Notation

Keyboard

Button Group

Button

Decimal numbers

 0123456789.

Fractions

/

Operations

fraction button

Variables

Type variables exactly as specified in the question.

Variable names are displayed in italics.

Variables are case-sensitive. You can't substitute x for X.

Addition

+

Subtraction

-

Multiplication

*

Division

Type / to enter a fraction or use the keyboard shortcut for your operating system:
  • Windows®: alt + 0247
  • macOS™/OS X®: option + /

Parentheses

(

The closing parenthesis is added automatically.

Sets

parentheses button

Set delimiters (braces)

 {

The closing brace is added automatically.

Sets

braces button

Closed interval (brackets)

[a,b

The closing bracket is added automatically.

Sets

brackets button

Open interval (parentheses)

(a,b

The closing parenthesis is added automatically.

Sets

parentheses button

Half-closed interval (half-open interval)

[a,b)

You can substitute ( or ] as needed.

Sets

half-closed interval button 1 or half-closed interval button 2

Empty set

empty

Sets

empty set button

Union

union

Sets

union button

Intersection

intersect

Sets

intersection button

Square root

sqrt

Operations

square root button

Exponent

 ^

Operations

exponent button

Factorial

n!

Operations

factorial button

Base or subscript

n_b

Operations

subscript button

Exponent and subscript of a variable

n_b→^x

Operations

exponent and subscript button

nth root

Operations

nth root button

Absolute value

|

The closing vertical bar is added automatically.

You can't paste the vertical bar (|) in mathPad.

Operations

absolute value button

Exponential function

e^

Operations

Euler's number to a power button

Natural logarithm

ln

Operations

natural log button

Power of 10

10^

Operations

10 to a power button

Logarithm (base 10)

log

Operations

base 10 log button

General Log

log←_base→operand

Operations

base n log button

pi

pi

Symbols

pi button

theta

theta

Symbols

lowercase theta button

Infinity

infinity

Symbols

infinity button

Does not exist

DNE

Symbols

DNE button

Undefined

UNDEFINED

Symbols

UNDEF button

Imaginary unit

i

Typing i displays the i without bolding, but grades correctly.

Symbols

imaginary unit button

Script l

Symbols

script l button

Script E

Symbols

script E button

Overline

Symbols

bar button

hbar

hbar

Symbols

h-bar button

Perpendicular

Symbols

perpendicular button

Parallel

Symbols

parallel button

Equal

=

Relations

equals button

Greater than

>

Relations

greater than button

Greater than or equal to

>=

Relations

greater than or equal to button

Less than

<

Relations

less than button

Less than or equal to

<=

Relations

less than or equal to button

No solution

 NOSOLUTION

Relations

NO SOL button

Sine

 sin

Trig

Sine button

Cosine

cos

Trig

Cosine button

Tangent

tan

Trig

Tangent button

Cosecant

csc

Trig

Cosecant button

Secant

sec

Trig

Secant button

Cotangent

cot

Trig

Cotangent button

Inverse sine
(arcsine)

arcsin
or sin←^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Sine button

Inverse cosine
(arccosine)

arccos
or cos←^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Cosine button

Inverse tangent
(arctangent)

arctan
or tan←^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Tangent button

Inverse cosecant
(arccosecant)

arccsc
or csc←^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Cosecant button

Inverse secant
(arcsecant)

arcsec
or sec←^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Secant button

Inverse cotangent
(arccotangent)

arccot
or cot←^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Cotangent button

Hyperbolic sine

sin←h→

Trig

Hyperbolic Sine button

Hyperbolic cosine

cos←h→

Trig

Hyperbolic Cosine button

Hyperbolic tangent

tan←h→

Trig

Hyperbolic Tangent button

Hyperbolic cosecant

csc←h→

Trig

Hyperbolic Cosecant button

Hyperbolic secant

sec←h→

Trig

Hyperbolic Secant button

Hyperbolic cotangent

cot←h→

Trig

Hyperbolic Cotangent button

Inverse hyperbolic sine
(area hyperbolic sine)

arcsin←h→
or sin←h^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Hyperbolic Sine button

Inverse hyperbolic cosine
(area hyperbolic cosine)

arccosh←h→
or cos←h^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Hyperbolic Cosine button

Inverse hyperbolic tangent
(area hyperbolic tangent)

arctanh←h→
or tan←h^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Hyperbolic Tangent button

Inverse hyperbolic cosecant
(area hyperbolic cosecant)

arccsch←h→ or csc←h^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Hyperbolic Cosecant button

Inverse hyperbolic secant
(area hyperbolic secant)

arcsech←h→
or sec←h^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Hyperbolic Secant button

Inverse hyperbolic cotangent
(area hyperbolic cotangent)

arccoth←h→
or cot←h^-1→→

Trig

Inverse Hyperbolic Cotangent button

Bold vector

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 bold vector button

Vector bracket

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 vector bracket button

Arrow vector

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 arrow vector button

i unit vector

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 i unit button

j unit vector

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 j unit button

k unit vector

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 k unit button

Unit vector (hat vector)

 Do not use the keyboard to input vectors.

Vectors

 unit vector button

Lowercase Greek letter

Name of the letter in lowercase, for example, alpha, beta, gamma.

Greek

lowercase Greek character palette

Uppercase Greek letter

Capitalized name of the letter, for example, Alpha, Beta, Gamma.

Greek

uppercase Greek character palette