How to use the Google calculator
Google’s calculator tries to understand the problem you are attempting to solve without requiring you to use special syntax. However, it may be helpful to know the most direct way to pose a question to get the best results. Listed below are a few suggestions for the most common type of expressions (and a few more esoteric ones).
Most operators come between the two numbers they combine, such as the plus sign in the expression 1+1.
|
Some operators work on only one number and should come before that number. In these cases, it often helps to put the number in parentheses.
|
A few operators come after the number.
|
Other good things to know
Parentheses can be used to enclose the parts of your expression that you want evaluated first. For example, (1+2)*3 causes the addition to happen before the multiplication.
The "in" operator is used to specify what units you want used to express the answer. Put the word "in" followed by the name of a unit at the end of your expression. This works well for unit conversions such as: 5 kilometers in miles
You can use hexadecimal, octal and binary numbers. Prefix hexadecimal numbers with "0x", octal numbers with "0o" and binary numbers with "0b". For example: "0x7f + 0b10010101".
The calculator understands many different units, as well as many physical and mathematical constants. These can be used in your expression. Many of these constants and units have both long and short names. You can use either name in most cases. For example, "km" and "kilometer" both work, as do "c" and "the speed of light".
Feel free to experiment with the calculator as not all of its capabilities are listed here. To get you started, we’ve included a few expressions linked to their results.
