Re: Understanding N and Precision
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg71199] Re: [mg71147] Understanding N and Precision
- From: Carl Woll <carlw at wolfram.com>
- Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2006 06:37:59 -0500 (EST)
- References: <200611090838.DAA15669@smc.vnet.net>
Alain Cochard wrote:
>Hi. I would like to understand the following behavior:
>
> Mathematica 5.2 for Linux
> Copyright 1988-2005 Wolfram Research, Inc.
> -- Motif graphics initialized --
>
> In[1]:= MatrixForm[{{exact1=Cos[3Pi/2+Pi/7], Precision[exact1]}, \
> {exact2=Cos[40139127975 Pi/14], Precision[exact2]}}]
>
>
> Out[1]//MatrixForm= 23 Pi
> Cos[-----]
> 14 Infinity
>
> 40139127975 Pi
> Cos[--------------]
> 14 Infinity
>
>just checking:
>
> In[2]:= FullSimplify[exact1-exact2]
>
> Out[2]= 0
>
> In[3]:= MatrixForm[{{float1=N[exact1], Precision[float1]},\
> {float2=N[exact2], Precision[float2]}}]
>
>
> Out[3]//MatrixForm= 0.433884 MachinePrecision
>
> 0.433883 MachinePrecision
>
>So the N of supposedly(?) 2 identical numbers is different (although
>the precision is indeed the same). That's what I would like to
>understand most.
>
>
In this case N is applied to the argument of Cos, and then Cos of this
approximate number is evaluated. So the two approximate numbers are:
r1=N[23 Pi/14]
r2=N[40139127975 Pi/14]
5.16119
9.0072×10^9
As machine numbers we would expect r1 to be accurate to about +/-10^-15
and r2 to be accurate to about +/-10^-6. With machine number input I
think Cos does some sort of Mod operation of its argument, so the next
step is:
a1=Mod[r1,2Pi]//FullForm
a2=Mod[r2,2Pi]//FullForm
5.161187930897517`
5.161186218261719`
Here you can see that a1 and a2 differ by about 10^-6 which as I said
earlier is to be expected. Consequently the difference you are seeing
when applying N shouldn't be surprising.
>Also, if I specify the precision for N, it now gives the same. E.g.:
>
> In[4]:= MatrixForm[{{float1=N[exact1,3], Precision[float1]},\
> {float2=N[exact2,3], Precision[float2]}}]
>
>
> Out[4]//MatrixForm= 0.434 3.
>
> 0.434 3.
>
>
>
Here you are not using machine numbers anymore, and with extended
precision numbers Mathematica can use significance arithmetic to try to
ensure that the result has the requested precision.
>including the case where the precision asked is MachinePrecision:
>
>
> In[5]:= MatrixForm[{{float1=N[exact1,$MachinePrecision], Precision[float1]},\
> {float2=N[exact2,$MachinePrecision], Precision[float2]}}]
>
> Out[5]//MatrixForm= 0.4338837391175581 15.9546
>
> 0.4338837391175581 15.9546
>
>Why in this case does it gives a precision of "15.9546" and not
>"MachinePrecision", as above, especially since
>
> In[6]:= N[$MachinePrecision,Infinity]
>
> Out[6]:= 15.9546
>
>Isn't N[x] equivalent to N[x,$MachinePrecision]?
>
>
No, N[x] is equivalent to N[x, MachinePrecision] (notice that there is
no $ in front). $MachinePrecision is the numerical precision of machine
numbers, and so N[x, $MachinePrecision] gives an extended precision
number (not a machine number) with 15.9546 digits of precision. Notice
that MachinePrecision does not evaluate to anything, just like Pi:
MachinePrecision
MachinePrecision
However, it does have a numerical value:
N[MachinePrecision]
15.9546
This numerical value is the same thing as $MachinePrecision:
$MachinePrecision
15.9546
I hope this helps clear things up.
Carl Woll
Wolfram Research
>Thanks in advance for any tip.
>
>Alain
>
>
- References:
- Understanding N and Precision
- From: Alain Cochard <alain@geophysik.uni-muenchen.de>
- Understanding N and Precision