TI-30XS How to enter negative exponents

See captured image below. You have to use (-) sign

Are you opening the parentheses in the first place? If you don't have a left parenthesis then you don't need a right parenthesis.

Could you post the exact sequence of keystrokes you're using?

Use the (-) key (just to the right of the decimal point key) instead of the - key when entering a negative number (not just exponents).
- is used to subtract one value from another. (-) is used to negate a value. - operates on two numbers, (-) operates on one.

Depending on your version of the TI-30, you will either find a button with a y to the exponent of x or a button that is the carot (^) sign. you would type (1.0075)^(-240), where ^ is the appropriate button (y^x or just ^).

1*10^(-3)

Because you're using -3 as an exponent, you need to put the whole thing in the parentheses.

I think what you did was use the minus sign instead of the negative sign, on that calculator, the two are not interchangeable. I purposely used the minus sign just now and also got a syntax error, but it looks like it works with the negative sign (-) located under the 3 button.

Hello,
The calculator has two minus signs

1. The regular MINUS sign which is used with the subtraction operation. This operation is binary, requiring two operands (two terms). In a-b, a and be are the operands (they very specific names, but I will skip this detail).
   
2. The negation or change sign. This operation is called unary, requiring one operand. -a means take the negative of the number a.

These are the technicalities, in which you may not be interested. On calculators, the two operations are implemented differently, with two signs, the regular minus sign -- , and the change sign (-) usually smaller in size than the regular -- sign and raised above the main line.

Examples. Let (-) be the negation and -- the regular minus.

• If you enter (-) 12 the TI84Plus accepts it and calculates the negative of 12.
• If you enter 12 (-) 13 the TI protests with a syntax error
• If you enter 12 ( (-) 13) the calculator interprets it as 12* (-13) and calculates -156.
• If you enter --12, the calculator displays Ans--12, where Ans is the last result calculated. If Ans happens to be 0, the new result is obviously the one you are expecting. But if Ans holds a non zero value, this is incorrect.

Suppose you have to calculate X^(-2)*X^(-1/3)
You can enter it exactly as it is written above. In this case, you must use the change sign (-) in both factors.
You can also decide to use the power rules and enter the expression as X^( -2 --1/3). In this case the first minus is the negation and the second is the regular minus.

I could go on with a few more examples, but that will take us away from your present concern.

In short.

1. If the minus sign is the leftmost (first) symbol in your function (after the Y1=) you should use the negation. Any subsequent minus should be the regular minus --
2. If the minus sign is the first symbol in an exponent, you must use the negation. Any subsequent minus in the expression of an exponent should be the regular minus --

I hope it did not bore you death with details you do not care to know about. I do hope that it will help you prevent this type of syntax errors.

Do not forget to rate the solution

Uh yes it will allow you to enter a negative exponent.... press the numbers you want then hit EXP button, then hit the +/- button and then the exponent. 60 % of the time, it works...... everytime.

You can download the guidebook for this calculator from TI here.

From page 16:
To enter a number in scientific notation:
1) Enter up to 10 digits for the base (mantissa). If negative, press the +/- key. (The key has two curvy arrows between the + and - but I can't do that on my keyboard.)
2) Press the EE key.
3) Enter a 1 or 2-digit exponent. If negative, press +/- either before or after entering exponent.

They give the example 1.2345 +/- EE +/- 65 which would display -1.2345 -65.

Hello
To raise a number to any power you use the [^] caret key or on some calculators the [x^y] (x raised to exponent y)

20^(4) =160000

20 to the power of negative 3
20[^] 3 [(-) or +/-] ENTER gives 1.25x10^(-4) = 0.000125 (-) is the small minus sign.

If that gives you a syntax error
20[^] [(-) or +/-] 3[ENTER] = 0.000125

27 [^] (1/3] represents the cube root of 27 which is 3.
Hope it helps.