The mode commands adjust how the calculator behaves.

The MODE menu has three pages. You move from one to another with F1, F2, and F3.
After you make your choices, you must hit ENTER to save them. If you use ESC to exit instead, you lose the changes.

        
    Graph chooses among graph modes.
    Current Folder should always be main.
    Display Digits determines how numbers appear.
    Angle allows RADIAN or DEGREE measure. You always want RADIAN in math class.
    Exponential Format allows scientific and engineering formats for numbers.
    Complex Format determines how complex numbers are displayed.
    Vector Format determines how vectors are displayed.
    Pretty Print ON displays symbols in their standard mathematical style.
                          OFF displays formulas in the history area the same way they appear on the command line.

        
    Split Screen splits the screen.
      The next several options determine what initially appears on each screen.
      Only Split 1 App is relevant if you didn't split the screen.
     Exact/Approx determines what kind of answers the calculator looks for.
    Base is number system. DEC is base 10, which is what you want.
 

        
    Unit system selects the default units.
    Custom units lets you specify your own units.
    Language is English unless you added a language module.

Exact/Approx offers three choices: AUTO, EXACT, and APPROXIMATE.

        
        In AUTO mode, the calculator finds exact answers if it can.
        If it can't, it finds decimal approximations instead.
        Calculations in this mode can be slow, but this is usually the mode you want.

        
        In EXACT mode, the calculator finds exact answers if it can.
        If it can't, it gives up.
        If only exact answers are useful, this is the mode you want, but you probably won't use this mode often.

        
        In APPROXIMATE mode, the calculator finds decimal approximations.
        Calculations in this mode are faster but less accurate.
 

In any mode, you can force the calculator to give decimal approximations by

• including a decimal point somewhere in your input. (Write 3/10 instead of .3 if you want an exact answer.)
• using green diamond ENTER instead of just ENTER.