Casio fx-CG50 field manual for IB Math

Update the operating system first, at home. The IB permits the fx-CG50 only on the latest operating system, and lists Casio devices that have an Examination Mode but are not up to date among the calculators that are not allowed. The update is free from Casio's education site and needs a computer and a USB cable, so do it in the weeks before the exams rather than the morning of one.

Time it right. Examination Mode has to be engaged immediately before the paper and left on for its duration. If you switch it on earlier, you must not have the calculator in your hands between then and the exam, which in practice means doing it at your desk when the invigilator says so. It also expires by itself after 12 hours, so a calculator put into the mode the night before will have dropped out of it by the time you sit down.

Enter the mode. Switch the calculator off with . Now hold down and together, and while still holding them press . The Examination Mode dialog appears. Press for Yes, to confirm at the second prompt, then . If your calculator offers a choice of examination modes, take the one marked for IB.

Check the two signs it worked. A green frame runs around the edge of the whole display, and a small indicator blinks in the top-right corner. Both are there so an invigilator can see the mode is on from across the room. If you have a green border but no blinking indicator, or neither, the mode did not engage and you should repeat the key combination.

What it takes away, and what it leaves. The mode locks out e-Activity, the Memory and Program modes, Python, vector commands, and any add-in applications, and it backs your main memory up and restores it when you leave. Everything this book teaches sits in modes that stay open: Run-Matrix, Graph, Table, Statistics, Equation, Recursion, and Financial all work exactly as normal.