#!F-adobe-helvetica-medium-r-normal--18*
#!N 
#!N  #!Rtall522 Floating Point 
#!N #!N #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   Floating-point #!EF numbers are used to represent 
the set of real numbers. These numbers encompass both rational and 
irrational numbers. By virtue of their 32-bit, IEEE single-precision internal representation, 
they lie in the range of +/-3.4028 x 10(38). The smallest 
step between values is +/-1.1754 x 10(-38). Like integers, floating-point numbers 
can be prefixed by a minus sign (  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   - #!EF 
) to represent a negative number. Floating-point numbers can be expressed 
in two ways: #!N #!I0 #!N #!N #!I0 #!N  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   Standard 
representation #!EF #!I50 #!N The  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   standard representation #!EF of a 
floating-point number consists of a decimal number followed by a decimal 
point (  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   . #!EF ), followed by another decimal number. 
The first decimal number represents the whole part of the floating-point 
number. The second represents the fractional part. Either the first or 
the second of the numbers surrounding the decimal point can be 
omitted, but not both. If the first is omitted, then the 
number is purely fractional. If the second is omitted, then the 
number does not contain a fractional part. This second alternative is 
useful for representing integer values that lie outside of the range 
representable by the integer format. #!N #!N #!I0 #!N  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   Scientific 
notation #!EF #!I50 #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   Scientific notation #!EF is an alternative 
means of representing floating-point numbers. A number in scientific notation has 
the form  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   x #!EF e  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   y #!EF (or  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   
x #!EF E  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   y #!EF ). The number  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   x 
#!EF can be either a standard floating-point number or a decimal 
integer. The number  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   y #!EF must be a decimal integer. 
It can be prefixed by a minus sign. This scientific notation 
is simply shorthand for writing  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   x*10(y) #!EF . The effect 
of the decimal value  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   y #!EF is to specify the 
number of places the decimal point should be shifted to the 
right, or if  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   y #!EF is negative, to the left. 
#!I0 #!N #!N #!N #!N The following are examples of valid 
floating-point numbers, all of which have the value 95.0: #!N #!N 
#!CForestGreen #!N  #!F-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--18*   #!N 95. #!N 95.0 #!N 95e0 #!N 9.5E1 
#!N 950e-1 #!N 9.50e+1 #!EF #!N #!N #!EC #!N #!N #!N 
 #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   Next Topic #!EF #!N #!N  #!Lvecm,dxall523 h Vectors, Matrices, and Tensors  #!EL  #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   #!N 
