Re: Rounding off double precision



Yes! You are expecting calculations done with floating point numbers
to be EXACT. Such calculations are actually approximate. Each
operation has a small quantity of error built in. That's the nature of
floating point.

No I am not. I understand how (binary) floating points are used to
represent actual (decimal) numbers. If I thought they were exact, I
wouldn't be asking how to round it off properly so that the errors are
not shown.

However I have since found where I went wrong. I was using

double precision Speed, Azimuth, V
Azimuth = 90.
parameter(Pi = 3.141592653589793238d0)
V = Speed * cos(Azimuth * Pi / 180.)
print *, V

The problem with the unusually large value of -4.37113886E-06 arose
because I didn't declare Pi to be double precision, even though I
assigned a double precision value to it. Thus rounding off its value
to real. I realized that after studying Richard Maine's short program,
which gave me a smaller answer of 6.12303177E-17 in the expected range
of precision.

Now that I have a value in the range E-17 instead of E-06, I can now
use F15.12 to round it off! My question has been answered. Thanks to
all who helped!
.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Decimal Floating Point (was Re: why still use C?)
    ... Given the intrinsic nature of floating point, ... >> point representation no longer matters (only the precision is relevant). ... And what is the exact result of dividing 1 penny by 3, ... Dan Pop ...
    (comp.lang.c)
  • Re: Precision issue?
    ... be expecting exact answers from floating point airthmetic; ... Floating point arithmetic on all current ... The resolution of single precision floating point on most ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: double is integer?
    ... floating-point representation of what they typed. ... Floating point arithmetic has a loose grasp of the concept of precision. ... Any attempts to determine if a floating point value is an exact integer are probably ...
    (microsoft.public.vc.mfc)
  • Re: HPGCC 2: sat_decode_real
    ... > on the other hand if you take double precision -well it's a good ... > Metakernel does have exact mode -it keeps rational numbers in equation type. ... decimal digits in the numerator and denominator. ...
    (comp.sys.hp48)
  • Re: Linear Algebra Challenge
    ... Since I'm using floating point, so I'll never be able to calculate one ... floating point math set to 99 digits. ... As close as I'm willing to wait if I use arbitrary precision. ... This mode is fast; when you select arbitry ...
    (comp.sys.hp48)