FLPhysicsRef 1.4 for Palm OS

Thank you for purchasing (or downloading the demo of) Forward
Loop Software's FLPhysicsRef software for the Palm OS.

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!!! PLEASE READ THE LICENSE.TXT FILE !!!

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE SOFTWARE LICENSE, 
PLEASE DELETE ALL COPIES OF THE SOFTWARE.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. System Requirements
3. Software Installation
4. Software Use

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1. Introduction

FLPhysicsRef is a small program for handheld computers running
the Palm operating system.  It serves as a quick reference for
students and others working in the field of physics, allowing
them to look up fundamental constants and other useful values,
SI unit information, unit conversion constants, math symbols
and constants, and the symbols of the Greek alphabet.

2. System Requirements

The software occupies approximately 63 KB of disk space on
the host computer and 64 KB of memory on the handheld.

The software was created with Palm OS 3.5 SDK.  Most of the
software testing was performed on Palm OS versions 3.5 and
4.1, with some additional testing on versions 3.0 and 5.0.

3. Software Installation

WARNING: Please delete any old copies of FLPhysicsRef
before installing this version.

The software is installed using the normal Palm method of 
copying the FLPhysicsRef.prc file from the host to the 
handheld computer, i.e. selecting the file with the Install
Tool then performing a HotSync.  An icon labeled "PhysicsRef"
will appear in the handheld's Application screen and the 
program should be ready for use.

4. Software Use

Conventions

The symbol ^ is used to indicate "to the power of."  For 
example, m/s^2 means meters per second squared.

Scientific notation is displayed in the X.XXXE+XX format, where
the digits after the 'E' are the exponent of the ten in the
notation.  For example, 1.000E-01 = 1 x 10^-1 = 0.1 and 
1.000E+01 = 1 x 10^+1 = 10.

Most values displayed by the program have four digits of
accuracy.  For example, the speed of light appears as
2.998E+08 m/s. 

User Interface

The opening screen contains a column of buttons that take
you to the more specialized screens.  The screen hierarchy is
as follows:

Main screen
  Fundamental Constants button ->
    Constants screen
  Useful Values button ->
    Useful Values screen
  SI Unit Names button ->
    SI Unit Names screen
  SI Unit Prefixes button ->
    SI Unit Prefixes screen
  Unit Conversion Constants button ->
    Unit Conversion screen
      Angle button ->
        Angle screen
      Area button ->
        Area screen
      Energy button ->
        Energy screen
      Force button ->
        Force screen
      Length button ->
        Length screen
      Mass button ->
        Mass screen
      Power button ->
        Power screen
      Pressure button ->
        Pressure screen
      Speed button ->
        Speed screen
      Temperature button ->
        Temperature screen
      Time button ->
        Time screen
      Volume button ->
        Volume screen
  Math Constants button ->
    Math Constants screen
  Math Symbols button ->
    Math Symbols screen
  Greek Alphabet button ->
    Greek Alphabet screen

All screens except the Main one have a Back button in the lower
left to take you one level back up the screen hierarchy.  Note
that clicking the title bar of the Main screen produces an
Options menu and clicking the "About PhysicsRef" line displays
a box containing the FLPhysicsRef version number.

The Options menu also contains items for Preferences and
Software License.  The Preferences allow you to specify whether
or not you want the program to remember the page it is on when
you close the program.  If you enable this feature, the next
time you start the program it will return to this page.  The
Software License menu item displays a copy of the program
license.

Fundamental Constants screen

The Constants screen contains a multiple-row list box and a
value box.  The list box is arranged in alphabetical order.
When you click on a constant name in the list box, its numerical
value is displayed in the value box.  Use the arrow at the right
side of the list box to scroll to other constant names.

Useful Values screen

The Useful Values screen contains a multiple-row list box and a
value box.  The list box is arranged in alphabetical order.
When you click on a value name, its numerical value is displayed
in the value box.  Use the arrow at the right side of the list
box to scroll to other value names.

SI Unit Names

The SI Unit Names screen contains a multiple-row list box and a
value box.  The list box is arranged in alphabetical order. 
When you click the name of a physics quantity in the list box,
its SI unit name is displayed in the value box.  The SI unit 
name may be a basic unit such as the meter or a derived one such
as meters per second squared.  Use the arrow at the right side
of the list box to scroll to other unit names.

SI Unit Prefixes

The SI Unit Prefixes screen contains a multiple-row list box of
prefixes.  Physicists use the prefixes with SI unit names to 
indicate orders of magnitude.  For example, the SI unit "meter"
with the "kilo-" prefix becomes a kilometer, which is 1E+03 or
1000 meters.  The list box is arranged in descending numerical
order.  Clicking an item in the list has no effect other than 
highlighting the item.  Use the arrow at the right side of the
list box to scroll to other prefix names.

Unit Conversion

The main Unit Conversion screen contains two columns of buttons
that take you to individual unit conversion screens, one for
each major physical quantity.

All of the individual unit conversion screens contain a pair of
push buttons that control the direction of conversion, followed
by the conversion values.  If you need the factor to convert from
the left-hand unit to the right-hand unit you may leave the right
arrow button selected.  If you need to convert from the right-
hand unit back to the left-hand unit, you should click the left
arrow.  Note that the conversion screens do not perform the
conversions for you, they merely provide the constants to allow
you to make the conversions yourself.

Math Constants

The Math Constants screen contains a multiple-row list box of
commonly used mathematical constants.  The list box is arranged
in alphabetical order.  Clicking an item in the list has no 
effect other than highlighting the item.  Use the arrow at the
right side of the list box to scroll to other constant names.

Math Symbols

The Math Symbols screen contains a multiple-row list box of
descriptions for commonly used mathematical symbols and a
pictorial representation of the selected symbol.  When you
click on a description in the list box the graphic changes
appropriately.  Use the arrow at the right side of the list
box to scroll to other symbol descriptions.

Greek Alphabet

The Greek Alphabet screen contains a multiple-row list box of
the symbols commonly used to represent constants in physics
equations and another box containing the upper and lower case
versions of the selected symbol.  When you click on a name in
the list box the symbols change appropriately.  Use the arrow
at the right side of the list box to scroll to other names.

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End of PhysicsRef_readme.txt file.






