It is mostly installed on every device (for example the Ubuntu calculator on the screenshot) and there a lots of websites providing a similiar service: a calculator for doing mathematical calculations. In this article I present 7 online calculator tools.
Advantages of online calculators
Online calculators can be used on any device, but – of course – you have to be online. If the calculator tool is down, such as Web2.0Calc a few days ago because of it’s SSL certificate, is the only solution to use an offline tool.
Online tools may be updated more often, whereby math does not change so often an update would be necessary 😉 Nevertheless the most online calculators provide more features than the simple offline ones and can implement new features simple.
Another reason using an online tool for that purpose could be the community. For example (again) Web2.0Calc has a forum for discussing and solving mathematical problems.
Last but not least most of the online calculators have a good, userfriendly layout.
1. Web2.0Calc
Maybe you noted I mentioned already two times Web2.0Calc – not for nothing. This calculator has a pretty and clear layout, it has lots of features and it’s fast.
Additionally it’s more than just a simple calculator on your computer or smartphone. As an scientific calculator you can not only solve simple math, but also mathematical equations. Large numbers are also supported.
The display of the calculation and the result looks beautiful and one can say definitely that this calculator helps to have fun with maths.
Pros:
+ user-friendly, easy-to-use layout
+ lots of features (supports also solving equations, large numbers and graphs)
+ community (forum for discussing problems with other users)
+ widgets for embedding a calculator on your own website
Cons:
– needs JavaScript
2. Mathway
Mathway is build as a chat. It asks you: “How can I help you?” and is pleased to do you calculation or solve your mathematical problem. You can chat with him (for example “Hi” – “Hey”, “How are you?” …), just enter a math problem or enter a math problem with additional text.
If Mathway is unsure how he could help you, he asks what he should do. For example if he should solve or just simplify it.
There are a lot of operations and calculations supported, for example one can simply calculate the radius of a circle or solve an mathematical equation.
Pros:
+ Chat as good idea (because you can see easily the history)
+ Lots of features (for example equations & much more)
+ Symbols for calculating circles or others
+ Good presentation of numbers and calculations
Cons:
– sometimes he misunderstands you (often in case of easy calculations)
– needs JavaScript
3. WolframAlpha
Wolfram|Alpha is more than just a calculator, maybe it’s more precise to call it a search engine or a “computational knowledge engine”. Just type in a query to ask the engine something.
Really complicate mathematical problems can be solved. Because it is not only for maths you do not have the normal number keyboard.
To learn more about the possibilities of Wolfram|Alpha and how to use it you can have a look at the examples or try out its web apps.
Pros:
+ most features for calculating
+ lots of different representations of the result (incl. step-by-step-solution for pro users)
+ related queries such as search engine
+ lots of mathematical web apps
Cons:
– no mathematical keyboards
– slower than just simple calculators
Other Online Calculators
- Calculator.net
Calculator.net is not really beautiful, it’s only a simple (online) pocket calculator. If you do not need that much features or a special, modern calculator layout, you can use this calculator for easy calculations. Besides the basic arithmetic operations also calculations with sin/cos etc. are supported by this javascript calculator. - Online-Calculator.com
The Scientific Calculator of Online-Calculator.com looks a bit better than Calculator.net. But it provides the same functions: basis arithmetic operations and additional functions such as sin/cos/pi etc. If you want to, you can use it on full screen. But there is one big disadvantage of this calculator: It bases on flash and you can’t use it on all devices. - Calculator-1.com
Similiar to both calculator tools before is Calculator-1.com. Its scientific version bases on javascript and provides the expected features of an online pocket calculator with a few scientific features. The layout is simple, but that is an advantage in this case. - Math.com
The simplest javascript calculator can be found on Math.com. You can just do basic arithmetic operations and can not store results. Instead of using such a tool you can also use a basic calculator of you operating system or trying mental arithmetic 😉
Conclusion
There are so many online calculators – from really simple tools to creative, beautiful calculators (as chat or search engine). For basic arithmetic operations you can use also integrated calculators of your operating system or you search engine (for example Google).