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Calculator output
Name: rayok Date: October 31, 2004 at 01:21:05 Pacific OS: XP pro CPU/Ram: 2500/512
Comment:
if you do 1/2000000 (1 divided by 2 million) in the calculator you get .000005 but if you do 1/2000001 (1 divided by 2 million and 1) you get a completely different answer - why ? and how can you interperet the answer ? Techy n Welsh
Name: Ed in Texas. Date: October 31, 2004 at 01:41:36 Pacific
Reply:
rayok, strikes me that you are fighting capacity here. Most calculators round off and if yours doesn't have sufficient capacity to give you the exact answer (an additional decimal point), it will give you a rounded off answer before it will give you nothing at all! Try it on your computer and compare. HTH. Ed in Texas.
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Response Number 2
Name: Mechanix2Go Date: October 31, 2004 at 02:38:01 Pacific
Reply:
Hi rayok,
For 1/2000001, I get:
4.9999975000012499993750003124998e-7
which is just a tad less than:
.000005
using the calc in w2k.
Seems about right.
M2
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Response Number 3
Name: Misse Date: October 31, 2004 at 02:41:58 Pacific
Reply:
This is the most tired thread for a long time :D Inhaled some coffee, when I read it...
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Response Number 4
Name: rayok Date: October 31, 2004 at 04:42:48 Pacific
Reply:
Thanks I think I understand what is going on 1/2000000 can be expressed finiteley but 1/2000001 cannot
Thanks for your help
Techy n Welsh
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Response Number 5
Name: salgolf Date: October 31, 2004 at 14:10:03 Pacific
Reply:
Now, misse. Math can be very exciting when understood. :)
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Response Number 6
Name: salgolf Date: October 31, 2004 at 14:19:44 Pacific
Reply:
Using the Google calculator (a great tool) I get 4.9999975 × 10 -07 (that should read 10 to the minus 07) for 1 / 2000001. That's probably close enough for most of us.
Ed in Texas is right in saying it's a capacity problem as well as an issue with the way they actually designed the computer to read out abbreviated answers.
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Response Number 7
Name: Misse Date: October 31, 2004 at 15:39:40 Pacific
Reply:
Yeah salgolf, but the 2 million are already havin´a way too little slice of the cake. Besides, the 1 ain´t even hungry.
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Response Number 8
Name: domass Date: October 31, 2004 at 22:06:04 Pacific
Reply:
I think you guys need to put on your reading glasses 1/2,000,000 is not .000005 it's .0000005 lol I'm suprised noone caught that.
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Response Number 9
Name: Mechanix2Go Date: November 1, 2004 at 21:38:08 Pacific
Reply:
domass,
I was having a 'senior moment.' Happens more and more these days.
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