Do the Math with Yahoo! Calculators

The next time someone tells you to “do the math,” try a Yahoo! Calculator.

Every computer has a simple calculator application, which you probably use to do addition and subtraction. Yahoo! can take the place of this calculator, and Yahoo! Calculators can give you answers to complex financial questions.

For the simplest types of calculations, you can use any Yahoo! Search form. Type 237 + 13 into a Yahoo! Search form and you’ll find the answer at the top of the search results. You can also group together more complex functions with parentheses, as shown in Figure 2-13.

Simple math in a Yahoo! Search result

Figure 2-13. Simple math in a Yahoo! Search result

Yahoo! Search forms can also handle unit conversion with the convert shortcut. Type convert 25 miles to kilometers into a Yahoo! Search form, and the top result will tell you the answer is 40.234 kilometers. And the time in shortcut will do some quick time zone math. Type time in London, and you’ll know whether it’s too late or too early to call someone there.

In addition to the simple calculators built in to Yahoo! Search, there are more sophisticated ones that help you answer everything from how to pay down your debt to which stock to invest in, providing charts and detailed explanations to help you make sound financial decisions. Computers are calculators, but they don’t necessarily tell you what to calculate when you want answers ...

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