how to use your calculator in numerical reasoning tests

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How to Use Your CalculatorFor Numerical Reasoning Tests

• It is highly recommended that you watch all of the slideshow, since, at the

end, there are important numerical examples which display effective

calculator use.

Before you start watching the slideshow:

• Many numerical reasoning tests require the use of a calculator.

• When invited to take a test at an employer's assessment centre, you may be

asked to bring your own calculator.

• Using a scientific calculator is a better choice, as it helps save time when

required to perform lengthy calculations.

• Notice that you may be provided with a basic calculator.

• Therefore, we will review how to optimise the use of both types of

calculators.

Quick facts > Calculators in Numerical Tests

The Basic Calculator

• Basic calculators don’t have the Brackets or Indices (to the power of) functions.

• Therefore, the calculation order is only affected by the typing order.

For example:

X-motors had 3 types of cars in 2001. In 2004, one more car type was added to the

collection. In 2005, the number of cars in the collection multiplied by 8.

Question: How would you calculate the number of cars in the end of 2005 using a

basic calculator?

Basic Calculator > Order of Typing

Answer:

To correctly work this out, you must first add the new car type to the original number

(3+1), and then multiply by 8. When using a basic calculator, which doesn’t have a

brackets button, you have to pay attention to your typing order. Typing 3+1x8 will

yield, in this case, a correct answer, since a basic calculator calculates by the typing

order. But, if you thought of typing: 8x3+1, the basic calculator would calculate 8X3

(=24) and then add 1, giving an incorrect answer of 25.

Consequently, when using a basic calculator, it is recommended to first

understand the question before automatically typing in the numbers in order

to avoid miscalculations.

Basic Calculator > Order of Typing

• There is a neat little trick to save time when using the decimal point for

numbers smaller than 1 (for example, when typing the number ‘0.05’):

• Most people would insert a “0” before pressing the decimal point on the

calculator, however it is not necessary. One could simply type ‘.05’, and thus

save a second or two by omitting the first '0'.

• Whilst this seems very trivial, it will help you save a lot of time when you

have a question which requires the use of decimal calculations.

Basic Calculator > The Decimal Point

Basic Calculator > The Decimal PointPressing .05: step #1

• Some calculators require you to press the square root button before you type

the number you want to square root, whereas others require the opposite – you

have to type the number, and then you press the square root button. Test out

your calculator before you begin your test to avoid pressing it incorrectly.

• Shortcut to powers: If you press the X (multiplication) sign after a number and

then the ‘equal’ sign, you will get the result of the second power of that number

(e.g. “12x=“ 144).

Basic Calculator > Square Root and Powers

Basic Calculator > Square Root and PowersA shortcut for calculating 12²: step #1

• A basic calculator has a % button, which allows you to quickly add or subtract

a percentage of a number from that number. This is especially useful if you

need to calculate an increase or decrease in a value.

Basic Calculator > Percentages

For example:

A share price was £1.20 in the end of 2011. By the end of 2012 it increased by

Question: What was the share price in the end of 2012?

Using the percentage button in the calculator:

Type in the number prior to the increase, followed by the + sign and the percentage you want

to increase it by: ‘1.2’, followed by ‘+’, then ‘15’ followed by the ‘%’ button to arrive at

the correct answer of £1.38 (“1.2+15%” =1.38)

• Notice that the percentage button can also be used with multiplication. For

example, if you want to find 15% of a given number, you simply multiply the

number by 15%., i.e. ‘1.2 X 15 %’ = 0.18.

• Note, that you could of course multiply 1.2 by 1.15 (which equals 15%)

Basic Calculator > Percentages

Basic Calculator > PercentagesAdding 15% to 1.2: step #1

Need more practice?

To improve your scores in the numerical tests,

continue practicing the calculation functions in our

>>Numerical Reasoning Packs

Click Now!

There are three memory buttons in most basic calculators:

For example:

Type in a number you want to store in the memory (e.g. 5). Then click the M+ button. You

should see a little ‘m’ appear somewhere at the top of your calculator screen, telling you that a

number has been stored in the memory.

Now imagine you want to add 4 to the number stored in the memory; type in ‘4’ and then

press ‘M+’. You will see the number 9 appear on the screen, because the latest number has

been added to the memory (5+4=9). Typing ‘MCR’ will yield the number 9. This is the same

with the M- button.

Basic Calculator > Memory Function

M- subtracts from the memory

M+ adds a number to

the memory

MRC stands for Memory

Recall

Basic Calculator > Memory Functionstep #1

• We recommend you to use the memory function in order to store your last

answer, as it may be required in later calculations.

• There are 3 main ways of clearing the memory when moving on to the next

question:

Press the CLR button, and follow the on-screen instructions of your calculator to

clear the memory when necessary.

Access the memory archive of your calculator; to do this, you must locate the

memory button (or equivalent) on your calculator, press it, and follow the on-screen

instructions to access the archive. From there, you will have the option to clear it.

Press on the MCR button twice in a row.

Basic Calculator > Memory Function

The Scientific Calculator

• The scientific Calculator has more functions (other than the basic ones), that

will probably help simplify many complicated calculations.

• Calculators usually follow the rule of BIDMAS; this stands for Brackets, Indices,

Division, Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction.

• Therefore, the calculator will work out brackets first.

• Note the use of the double brackets to ensure that nothing is calculated in the

wrong order.

For example: typing ((4+5)-(1+3))*2 will ensure that the whole ‘(4+5)-(1+3)’

expression is doubled.

Scientific Calculator > Brackets

For example:

In 2008, 400 auction contracts were

offered for £22,200 each. In 2009, contract

value increased by 7%, and there was a

25% decrease in the number of offered

contracts.

Question: How much more money than

Buildingo did Roads make?

a. £ 192,543 b. £ 217,386 c. £ 321,654 d. £ 423,964 e. £ 213,786

Answer:

Long way: Collect the necessary information for this question:

• Contract value in 2009: 1.07*22,200=23,754

• Number of contracts in 2009 after 25% decrease: 400*0.75=300

• Buildingo contracts in 2009: 0.09*300

• Roads LTD contracts in 2009: 0.12*300

• We need to subtract Buildingo from Roads, thus:

[(23,754*300*0.12)-(23,754*300*0.09)] = 213,786.

Shortcut way: Simply calculate the difference: 23,754*300*(0.12-0.09) = 213,786. Less

calculator operations, more time for you!

Scientific Calculator > BracketsTyping: 23,754*300*(0.12-0.09): =

213,786.23754x300x(.12-.09)

Need more practice?

To improve your scores in the numerical tests,

continue practicing the calculation functions in our

>>Numerical Reasoning Packs

Click Now!

• In this case a number is raised to the power of another number.

• The simplest use of indices is to ‘square’ a number – this is done by pressing the

number first followed by the ‘x2’ button.

• The same concept applies to the button xx (NB. Sometimes this will be seen as

an x with an empty box in the top right corner).

For example:

Dan earns £145 per day. Each day, his money is multiplied by 145. How much money does

Dan has after 3 days? Use a scientific calculator.

Answer: typing in ‘145’, followed by ‘xx’, then ‘3’ and then ‘=’ will yield the answer of

£3,048,625.

Scientific Calculator > Indices

Scientific Calculator > IndicesCalculating 145³ - step #1:

0.145³

3,048,625.145³

• For numerical reasoning tests, it is crucial to make sure your calculator is in

“DEG” (Degree) mode. Other alternative modes are “Rad” (Radians) or “Grad”

(Grade), which are not useful for this type of test.

• Setting the calculator in DEG will make sure to present ‘π’ as a decimal point

in your answer, rather than leaving it as a symbol on your screen.

• To set your calculator to DEG, press the “Set up” or “MODE” button (you may

have two press it twice), and then the corresponding number on the screen,

which indicates the DEG mode.

• Once this is done, a small ‘D’ should appear on the upper part of your screen to

confirm this.

Scientific Calculator > Calculator Mode

Scientific Calculator > Calculator ModeChoosing ‘Deg’- step #1:

Deg Rad Gra

Scientific Calculator > Calculator ModeChoosing ‘Deg’- step #2:

• Sometimes, calculators will present answers in a standard form (that is, as a

fraction), but your numerical reasoning test asks for answers as a decimal.

• Once you’ve worked out your answer and it has been presented as a fraction, all

you have to do is press the ‘S D’ button, for converting fractions to

decimals.

Scientific Calculator > Standard/Decimal Answers

Scientific Calculator > Standard/Decimal AnswersConverting ⅗ to 0.6 - step #1:

3 5.12/20

Scientific Calculator > Standard/Decimal AnswersConverting ⅗ to 0.6 - step #2:

0.612/20

• Usually, in the bottom of the calculator’s buttons there is an “Ans” button.

• Using this button will give the answer that was received in the previous

calculation.

• This button is very useful when you have to remember long numbers from one

calculation to another (I.e., 2639.85).

Scientific Calculator > “Ans” Button

Scientific Calculator > “Ans” Button Using the “Ans” button - step #1:

4,620.1750x2.64

4,620.1

4,620.18

4,620.18x

4,620.18xAns

83,160.18xAns

• The scientific calculator can also store numbers in its memory, but to a greater

extent.

• The buttons used on a scientific calculator are STO (store) and RCL (Recall), along

with the buttons lettered A to F.

• If you want to store a number in the calculator's memory, type it in, then press

(SHIFT) STO, followed by one of the letters (e.g. A) – without pressing the ALPHA

button. Then, to recall this number, press the RCL button, followed by ALPHA and

then the letter you saved the number under.

• Another useful tip to save time is to use the letters to form an equation, rather

than numbers. For example, if you store 4 as A and 15 as B, then AxB would give

you the same answer as typing out 4 x 15.

Scientific Calculator > Store/Recall Function

For example:

Question: How much money did Marcus have by the end of the 5th week?

Answer: We’ll answer this question by using Store/Recall Functions, in addition to the

functions we have learned earlier:

First, we will store the numbers appearing in the above example as letters:

By pressing ’50’, then ‘SHIFT’+‘STO and then ‘A’, the number 50 will bee stored as “A”.

Marcus has invested some money into shares. On the first day he invest £50 into StockCo

and £35 into SharesRUs . Every week, his money from SharesRUs doubled. Unfortunately

for him, his shares in StockCo lost a quarter of their value every week.

At the end of the fifth week, Marcus’ total amount of invested money increased by 25%.

Then, by the same manner we will store 35 as “B”.

Now all we have to do is type in the equation – using the above letters (in addition to the

other functions we’ve learned):

(B*25 + A*.755)X125% = £1,414.8

Scientific Calculator > Store/Recall FunctionA demonstration of the previous question - step #1:

50.50A

35.35B

35.(Bx

35.(Bx2

35.(Bx2⁵

35.(Bx2⁵+

35.(Bx2⁵+A

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.7

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)x

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)x1

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)x12

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)x125

35.(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)x125%

1,414.831543(Bx2⁵+Ax.75⁵)x125%

Question:

Approximately, what is

the percentage growth in

final energy consumption

for the domestic sector in

million tonnes of oil

equivalent?

Scientific Calculator > General Example

a. 2 b. 2.08 c. 20.88 d. 23.81 e. 18.96

26%31%

Industry Transport Domestic Services

25%29%

Final Energy Consumption(In primary energy equivalents)

*Figures taken from the UK National Archives .

213.6 Million tonnes of oil equivalent 237.7 Million tonnes of oil equivalent

There are two ways to answer this question:

Long way: Without using any of the calculator’s tips, we would have found each amount of oil

equivalent (used by the domestic sector in each year) separately.

In 2001: 213.6*0.29 = 61.94 million tons.

In 2011: 237.7*0.31 = 73.69 million tons.

The percentage growth rate would be: (73.69/61.94)-1 = 0.18957. Multiply by 100 to get 18.96%.

Short way: Using the calculator’s tips we have just learned, we can get to the same solution faster:

Typing ‘213.6x0.29=’ in the calculator, will yield 61.944. Then we press ‘Shift’, “STO” and then “A”.

Then, we type ‘237.7x0.31=‘, get 73.687, and press ‘÷’,‘ALPHA’ and ‘A’. Reducing ‘1’ and

multiplying by 100 will yield: 18.96%.

Scientific Calculator > General Example

Remember: practice is crucial, and it’s always important to know where the

buttons actually are on a standard calculator, so you’re not wasting time in the

exam searching for a specific button!

Need more practice?

Keep checking the JobTestPrep>> website for more tips,

tricks and shortcuts, where you can take free tests online

Click Now!

How to Use a Calculator? > Summary

Good Luck!

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how to use your calculator in numerical reasoning tests

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