 Your calculator will work out any type of root, not just square roots. For example, suppose you wanted to find the fifth root of 32:  In order to do a root like this, you enter the index first. The index is the little number in front of the root sign that tells you what kind of root it is. In this case it's a 5, so type 5. Next, access the Math menu using the MATH key (yellow arrow at left). 
The choice you want is the fifth one, so use the 'down arrow' key (blue arrow at left, above) to move the cursor down to line 5, and press 'Enter'.
This is what you'll see on the screen:  The '5' is out front, but it represents what the 'X' in the root sign is. It's a 5th root. Now type in the '32'; you'll see:  This represents 'the fifth root of 32', and after pressing 'ENTER', the calculator will tell you the answer, which is 2. You can enter any index for any type of root, and the calculator will work it out for you, if it exists. Note: Even-number roots of negative numbers don't exist ... they are not Real numbers. If you try to do one (for example, the square root of -25), the TI83 will politely tell you that there is no such number, with this error message: ERR: NONREAL ANSYou can choose 'GoTo' to go back and change the question, or 'Quit' to start over. |