they say that nothing is more intelligent that the human brain but how come calculators work out the most impossible of sums in a split second? do they have a massive database of every sum in the world?
2007-07-26 09:11:05 · 12 answers · asked by MEGative 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
There are thousands upon thousands of little microscopic gremlins inside... they each have one of every possible math question memorized.
2007-07-26 09:40:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
They break the numbers down into binary (base 2). The processor is really just a series of half adders ( 0 + 0 =0, 1+ 0 =1 or 1+1=0 but sends a 1 to the next half adder in the series). The reason that calculators are so quick is down to the processor speed, the simplicity of the basic program and the speed of electricity (the speed of light).
Basically lots of small sums worked out really fast to us appear as 1 really hard sum worked out quite fast.
2007-07-26 16:27:41 · answer #2 · answered by Vogon Poet 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, they are just a lot faster than us.A computer does not "know" how to solve the problem, but has been programmed how to perform these operations. Usually these programs are very simple, so if we were doing it ourselves it might take a few steps to get the right answer. The payoff here is that the computer can, in theory, do each step in a few billionths of a second. So even if there are thousands of calculations if you were doing it on paper, the computer can still beat you to the answer, but it does not really know what its doing.
2007-07-26 16:25:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
A calculator simply has nothing else to do, and doesn't display intermediate results. Your brain is much faster, but is mostly tied up in multi-tasking that is essential to keep you alive and moving, and for the conscious problem solving we learn, has to output results of each step. If you're into memorization, you can get answers to some operations much, much faster than you can key them into a calculator.
2007-07-26 16:39:34 · answer #4 · answered by Helmut 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Calculators are not smart, they are just very fast. they have an electronic chip which operates at the speed of an electron.
2007-07-26 16:19:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Carol Vordaman invented them.
2007-07-26 16:19:45 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
um.. well they program them withtall possible equations using a very fast computer. so itll automaticallty know. and the hum,an brian works that fast too. like 1 + 1 is automatically 2 right? well it knows them all like that bc its programmed like that. we can do iot too- but stick to 1 +1! LOL. Well- i hope i helped out... and what sparked this important question? Ive never thought about it... : )
2007-07-26 16:20:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
they have little Carole Vordamans inside them
2007-07-26 16:18:54 · answer #8 · answered by shipleyst 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Maybe if we learned to use more of our brains, then we could be faster at it too. As things are, we hardly use any of our brain!
2007-07-26 16:16:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Sshhhh!!!! it's magic!!!
Lol!!!
2007-07-26 16:17:31 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋