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Re: Why Doesn't N[Pi,i] Give i Digits For Small i, Mathematica

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg20225] Re: Why Doesn't N[Pi,i] Give i Digits For Small i, Mathematica
  • From: "P.J. Hinton" <paulh at wolfram.com>
  • Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 18:30:08 -0400
  • Organization: "Wolfram Research, Inc."
  • References: <innclip7tgsdm$snl@smc.vnet.net>
  • Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

On 6 Oct 1999, R&M wrote:

> If I execute:
> 
> Table[{i, N[Pi, i]}, {i, 1, 20}]
> 
> I get:
> 
> {{1, 3.14159}, {2, 3.14159}, {3, 3.14159}, {4, 3.14159}, {5, 3.14159},
> {6,  3.14159}, {7, 3.14159}, {8, 3.14159}, {9, 3.14159}, {10, 3.14159},
> {11, 3.14159}, {12, 3.14159}, {13, 3.14159}, {14, 3.14159}, {15,
> 3.14159}, {16, 3.14159}, {17, 3.1415926535897932},
> {18, 3.14159265358979324}, {19, 3.141592653589793238},
> {20, 3.1415926535897932385}}
> 
> I'd expect something like
> {{1,3},{2,3.1},{3,3.14},{4,3.141},{5,3.1416},{6,3.14159},{7,3.141593},....
> 
> 
> 
> It seems N[] only works as expected above 16 digits of requested
> precision.
> 
> Is my expectation wrong?  What should I do to get what I want?

Pay a visit to the Wolfram Research Technical Support FAQ site.  You'll
find an explanation there.

http://support.wolfram.com/Math/Numerics/NPrintPrecision.html

--
P.J. Hinton
Mathematica Programming Group           paulh at wolfram.com
Wolfram Research, Inc.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone.



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