How does 6.022140857*10^23 differ from 6.022140857e+23?
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In matlab if I write the following script I get a non-zero answer which is awkward, can somebody please explain this?
av = 6.022140857*10^23;
av_1 = 6.022140857e+23;
diff = av - av_1
The answer I get is
diff =
-67108864
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Accepted Answer
Stephen23
on 10 Mar 2017
Edited: Stephen23
on 10 Mar 2017
>> fprintf('%.0f\n',av)
602214085699999950000000
>> fprintf('%.0f\n',av_1)
602214085700000020000000
because X*B^P performs two numeric operations on three floating point values and accumulates floating point error with each operation. XeP generates the value directly, without any numeric operations.
Because of this:
Or any of the thousand other threads explaining floating point errors and how they accumulate during numeric operations.
You might also be interested in trying James Tursa's excellent FEX submission:
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