Python fails on math
Jean-Michel Pichavant
jeanmichel at sequans.com
Tue Feb 22 09:24:41 EST 2011
christian schulze wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I just found out, how much Python fails on simple math. I checked a
> simple equation for a friend.
>
> [code]
>
>>>> from math import e as e
>>>> from math import sqrt as sqrt
>>>> 2*e*sqrt(3) - 2*e == 2*e*(sqrt(3) - 1)
e has no accurate representation in computer science. Neither does it
with the classic decimal representation. Same for pi, if you remember
your math classes ;).
Quoting wikipedia, e known digits:
Date Decimal digits Computation performed by
2010 July 5 1,000,000,000,000 Shigeru Kondo & Alexander J. Ye
Anyway, no one solves equation by numerical application. If you want to
illustrate that ab - ac = a(b-c), do it with integers, as their
representation in computer science is accurate within a given range.
JM
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