This tutorial will teach you how to adjust the viewing window If you would like to see a different part of, or more of, your graph.
How to Adjust The Window On TI-84 Plus
A common problem you may run into is that you graph a line but the line is out of the window. Or you can see the line, but you just want to see more of it.There are multiple ways to adjust the window size, we’ll cover them all but we’ll start with the most simple.
By default the window size for the graph is -10 to 10 for the X and Y axes. There are multiple ways to adjust the window size, we’ll cover them all but we’ll start with the most simple way.
Using “Zoom”
I will graph the equation Y=(X-9)^2+8 as an example. When you graph this equation without changing the window size you will get the screen below. This is not very helpful, but luckily we can change the lengths of the X and Y axes to give us a better picture.
From the graph press the [zoom]key located in the middle of the top row of keys. You will then be at the screen shown below. The two things on this list that you want to focus on for now are the “Zoom In” and “Zoom Out” options. In our example we can’t see enough of our graph so we select the “Zoom Out” option.
Once you press enter on the “Zoom Out” selection you will arrive back at the graph. There should be a cursor at the origin of the graph. This is the point that you will be zooming out from. You can move this cursor around to adjust where you want to zoom out from. In our case we will just leave it at the origin and press [enter]to zoom out. Then the calculator will re-graph the line and you should be able to see more of it.
Using “Window”
There is another way to adjust the window on the TI-84 Plus that gives you more control. If you press the [window] key, in the top row of keys, you will arrive at the screen below.
From here you can enter the exact lengths that you want the X and Y axes to be. The first two items on the list (“Xmin” and” Xmax”) are for the X axis. The values you enter will be the left and right lengths of the X axis.
Below that it says “Xscl” this is for adjusting how frequently there will be tick marks on the graph. By default this will be set at 1, this means that there will be a tick mark for every 1 X value on the graph. If you are going to be using a window that has an Xmin of -100 and an Xmax of 100 then you may want to change the Xscl to something larger like 10 so that there aren’t a ton of tick marks. Below, the image on the left has 40 tick marks on each axis, the image on the right has 20 tick marks per axis.
The next three items on the list have the same functionality except for the Y axis.
The 7th item on the list (“Xres” is the “resolution” of the line that you will graph. This means basically means how many actual points the calculator will plot to make the line. If you graph a line with a low resolution setting (by entering a larger number), it will look like the parabola on the left below. It will graph super quickly but also be more jagged. If you graph a line with a higher resolution (by entering a lower number), the line will be more sooth but it will graph slower because the calculator has to calculate more points.
Window Defaults
Finally if you want to easily reset the window size, there is a way to do that too. If you press the [zoom]key again you will notice that there are a number of presets below the “zoom” functions. The one that resets the window to default is “Zstandard”. If you want to reset your window just scroll to that option and press [enter]. There are also other presets that you might find useful, like “Ztrig” which will give you tick marks in incroments of pi/2.
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