[{"element_type":"user_image","content":"https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/user_assets/assets/000/001/954/original/2025-09-14-150816_1024x768_scrot.png?1757880637","metadata":{}},{"element_type":"text","content":"\n  \n        \u003cp\u003eSeriously - this calculator was fun to program - but I freely admit it's not a practical tool.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy first computers were mechanical. There was the\u0026nbsp; \"\u003ca href=\"https://toytales.ca/think-tron-hasbro-1960/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eThink-a-Tron\u003c/a\u003e,\" then \"\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi-Comp_I\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDigicomp I\u003c/a\u003e\" and finally \"\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi-Comp_II\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDigicomp II.\u003c/a\u003e\" Of those, only the Digicomp I was actually programmable. Think-a-Tron was a sort of punch card reader and Digicomp II was a mechanical binary calculator using marbles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Digicomp II included examples of things the calculator could do - including Newton's method for calculating roots, and\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003ethat\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003eis what this project is for.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a simple calculator that can calculate square and cube roots using\u003cspan\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_method\"\u003eNewton's method\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet the switch LEFT to calculate ***square*** and RIGHT to calculate ***cube*** roots.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e* Press A to calculate the root of the current target (Default target is \"2\").\u003cbr\u003e* Press B to play back the current root (2 or 3), then target value, finally display the current root found.\u003cbr\u003e* Press A+B to randomly choose (and display) a new target value (2-1000)\u003cbr\u003e* Touch A1 to display the most recent root found.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; File:\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/mrklingon/NewtonsRoot/blob/main/Root.js\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003eRoot.js\u003cspan\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e- Javascript version of Circuit Playground code\u003cbr\u003e\u0026nbsp; Makecode Block version here:\u003cspan\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://makecode.com/_b3z9Vi18vcFW\"\u003ehttps://makecode.com/_b3z9Vi18vcFW\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNumbers are displayed by lighting the Neopixels green digit-by-digit (i.e. 3 pixels = \"3\", 6 pixels = \"6\" and so on). All digits purple indicate a decimal point and \"0\" is all pixels turned yellow.\u003c/p\u003e\n      \n","metadata":{}}]