Geographic Coordinate Conversion Using Calculator Application in Windows 10

Complexity: Basic
Data Requirement: Latitude and Longitude values in Degree Minutes Seconds format
Goal: Coordinate conversion, Calculator Application

Calculator is a simple application installed along with all Windows operating system. This blog discusses conversion of coordinates from Degree Minute Seconds (DMS) to Decimal Degrees (DD) and  vice-versa using Calculator application. 

In Windows 10, Calculator application can be accessed in different way, such as 1) select it from the list of applications in the startup, 2) type ‘CALC’ in the search box and once listed, click on the icon to select the application or 3) type ‘CALC’ in the ‘Run’ dialog and hit enter.

Fig. 1. Normal display of Calculator application

In order to carryout this conversion, calculator application must be set to ‘Scientific’ mode by choosing the option from settings (hamburger menu icon).

Fig. 2. Settings shows different modes

Once set to scientific mode, increase the size of the window to full screen size or drag diagonally (as shown by the arrow in the figure 1) at the corner so that all the required buttons (dms, deg) will be displayed on the calculator.

Fig. 3. Calculator application is set to ‘Scientific’ mode and size is adjusted to display all required buttons.