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The Caliper V15 #2 Cover
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Physics
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A New Calculator: TI-89
We are now shipping the TI-89, a calculator for advanced math, science, and engineering students. This new calculator is basically a TI-92 that has been put into a TI-83-type case. It lacks the keyboard and the geometry application of the TI-92; however, it has 500K of memory, 188K of RAM and 384K for data or program archive. It has plenty of room for calculator programs and data. Like the TI-86, it has Flash ROM, so it can be upgraded electronically. At $138, it is less expensive than the TI-92. Other valuable features include symbolic manipulation of mathematical expressions, symbolic differential equation solving, 3-D rotation and contour plots, units of measure and unit conversion, and constants with symbolic units.

CBL Made Easy!
We have finished a new (free!) manual to help CBL users through the sometimes bumpy road of getting started with CBL data collection. Using CBL Made Easy, new CBL owners will find it easier to learn the ropes of loading Graph Link software, downloading programs onto a graphing calculator, and collecting data for the first time. Our own Erik Schmidt has written a compact manual that shows users everything they need to know. After learning how to get up and running, you can try our short tutorial for collecting temperature data. You will learn how to do more advanced tasks, such as uploading data to a computer via TI-GRAPH LINK software or with our Graphical Analysis program. You will also learn how to print graphs and data tables. An extensive troubleshooting guide is included for those times when things don’t work the way you expected.

To obtain this guide, visit our web site at vernier.com/cbl/easy.html, and follow the directions to download CBL Made Easy! Or, you can order (at no cost) CBL Made Easy! (order code CME) and we will mail you a printed copy.

Programs for New Calculators
We recently wrote versions of our popular CHEMBIO and PHYSICS programs for the new TI-73, TI-89, and TI-92 Plus calculators. We also created a TI-73 version of PHYSCI for Physical Science with CBL. You can download these programs, along with all of our calculator programs, from our web site.

Revised PHYSICS Program
We made major improvements to our PHYSICS program as we wrote Physics with CBL. The Main Menu was changed to make it easier to collect and analyze data, but the biggest change was the addition of analysis tools you can use from within the program.

When you choose Analyze on the Main Menu, this menu appears. The first three options are new features. You can use the Curve Fit option to fit a variety of functions to the data. Add Model is used to overlay any function on the data. Stats/Integral is used to determine either the statistics or the integral of a portion of the data.

For example, in this Physics with CBL experiment, students use a Low-g Accelerometer to measure centripetal acceleration on a turntable as it is switched from 33-1/3, to 45, and finally 78 rpm. Here the 33-1/3 rpm region of data is being analyzed.

In this run, the average centripetal acceleration near the end of the turntable at 33-1/3 rpm was 1.397 m/s2. The PHYSICS program is included with Physics with CBL, or it can be download from our web site.

Updates to Graph Link Software
Did you realize you can get the latest versions of TI-GRAPH LINK software from the TI web site? Just point your web browser to http://education.ti.com/ticonnect. You can also get electronic copies of some of the Graph Link guidebooks.

Until recently, the Windows version of Graph Link worked only on Windows 3.1, 95, and 98, not on Windows NT. TI has developed a new version of the Windows software that supports Windows NT 4.0. This software can be downloaded from the TI web site. Users have reported problems using Graph Link on Macintosh G3 computers. This problem has been fixed and the new program can be downloaded from the TI web site.

Graph Link Cables
If you are a CBL user, you know how important it is to have a TI-GRAPH LINK. The TI-GRAPH LINK package (below) contains a cable, adapters, software and manuals. Teachers quickly realize how valuable it is to have additional Graph Links, but since they already have software and manuals, there is no need for a complete $55 Graph Link package. Vernier Software now sells the Graph Link hardware by itself, which will save you money. The Graph Link Cable (below) sells for $37. It contains adapters for Macintosh and IBM-compatible computers, along with the Graph Link cable.

New Versions of Graphical Analysis
Graphical Analysis for Windows and Macintosh has been modified to work with the new TI calculators. You can now import data from the TI-73, TI-89, and TI-92 Plus. Contact us if you are using one of these new calculators with Graphical Analysis.