finite word length effects - related questions get little different results than expected - why?
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We know that all computers suffer from finite word length effects. We can expect some errors - but why some related questions get different results for example - the following cut and paste from command window.
>> tand(90)
ans =
Inf
>> tan(pi/2)
ans =
1.6331e+16
>> cot(0)
ans =
Inf
>> sin(pi)
ans =
1.2246e-16
>> cos(pi/2)
ans =
6.1232e-17
10 Comments
Walter Roberson
on 27 Dec 2017
The radian-based trig functions are passed over to hardware instructions for performance reasons.
IEEE 754 defined accuracy requirements in terms of actual input bit patterns, and returning 0 in those cases would be inconsistent with the IEEE 754 accuracy requirements.
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