Manual

Getting started 11
1
Getting started
The HP Prime Graphing Calculator is an easy-to-use yet
powerful graphing calculator designed for secondary
mathematics education and beyond. It offers hundreds of
functions and commands, and includes a computer
algebra system (CAS) for symbolic calculations.
In addition to an extensive library of functions and
commands, the calculator comes with a set of HP apps.
An HP app is a special application designed to help you
explore a particular branch of mathematics or to solve a
problem of a particular type. For example, there is a HP
app that will help you explore geometry and another to
help you explore parametric equations. There are also
apps to help you solve systems of linear equations and to
solve time-value-of-money problems.
The HP Prime also has its own programming language
you can use to explore and solve mathematical problems.
Functions, commands, apps and programming are
covered in detail later in this guide. In this chapter, the
general features of the calculator are explained, along
with common interactions and basic mathematical
operations.
Before starting
Charge the battery fully before using the calculator for the
first time. To charge the battery, either:
• Connect the calculator to a computer using the USB
cable that came in the package with your HP Prime.
(The PC needs to be on for charging to occur.)
• Connect the calculator to a wall outlet using the HP-
provided wall adapter.