Scientific Calculator

Activities ::: mod_scicalc

Maintained by

Eduardo Kraus

This plugin adds a modern, responsive Scientific Calculator activity to Moodle, with functions such as trigonometry, logarithms, powers, square roots, and factorials, performing all calculations in the browser using a safe parser (no eval) and a Bootstrap-based interface integrated with Moodle.

Latest release: 4 days

13 downloads

Current versions available: 1

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Scientific Calculator

This is a Moodle activity module that adds a clean, fast, scientific calculator directly inside your course - perfect for math, physics, engineering, finance, and STEM training where students need a reliable tool without leaving the LMS.

What the plugin solves (in practice)

In many courses, students constantly switch tabs to external calculators. This activity keeps them focused, consistent, and productive - with a calculator always available inside Moodle, without relying on third-party sites or extensions.

Calculator inside the course

Students can compute expressions during lessons, quizzes, and homework - without leaving Moodle.

Scientific functions included

Trig, logs, powers, roots, factorial, constants and more - accessible with one click.

Safe evaluation (no eval)

Expressions are parsed and evaluated using a controlled algorithm - safer than typical eval-based calculators.

Simple history & reuse

A local calculation history lets students click results to reuse them instantly.

Best part

It works as a regular activity: add it once to the course and students can use it immediately - no extra accounts, no external sites.

How it works

The activity renders a Mustache template and loads a lightweight AMD module that handles input, parsing, and calculation entirely in the browser (client-side). That means fast interaction and no server load for each key press.

Rule of thumb

Type an expression → press Enter or =.
Functions insert as sin(, sqrt(, pow( to speed up usage.
History items are clickable → reuse results instantly.

Safe expression evaluation

Instead of using eval(), the calculator processes the expression with:

Tokenization (numbers, identifiers, operators)
Shunting-yard algorithm (infix → RPN)
RPN evaluation with a strict operator/function set

Designed for teaching workflows

Ideal for STEM courses that need quick calculations during learning and practice.

Add to any topic/week or section.
Works great alongside PDFs, lessons, and problem sets.
No personal data storage (privacy-friendly default).

Supported functions & constants

Expressions support common scientific operators, constants, and functions. Use ^ for power and ! for factorial. Constants are case-insensitive.

Operators

+ - * / % ^
Parentheses:
Factorial: !

Constants

pi (π)
e (Euler’s number)

Trigonometry

sin(x) cos(x) tan(x)
asin(x) acos(x) atan(x)

Algebra & logs

sqrt(x) abs(x) exp(x)
ln(x) log(x)
pow(a,b) min(a,b) max(a,b)
floor(x) ceil(x) round(x)

Tip

Use parentheses to keep expressions readable (e.g., sin(pi/2)+sqrt(9)*2).

Support

For issues and improvements, open a GitHub issue including: Moodle version, steps to reproduce, expression examples, and browser console logs (if relevant).

Open GitHub Contact

Best practices