Exactly the same result in my machine too. I think calculator's precision (or at least the method to present results) should be improved.
It looks to me like the calculator is converting to radians before it calculates. So cos(90) is really cos(pi/2) radians. And since it uses an imprecise representation of pi (9 decimal places), its answer is imprecise. You get the same answer if you type in "3.141592654/2" and then take the cosine.
Note that if you type in "3.1415926535/2" (that's 10 decimal places) and then take the cosine of that, the answer is closer to 0 than with the built-in definition of pi (4.489659216976159e-11 vs. -2.051034285153312e-10). That's about ten times closer, actually. The fact that one is negative and one is positive would seem to indicate that the calculator is using an algorithm which alternately adds and subtracts smaller and smaller fractions.
Just to interject in here a plug for a really nifty calculator app that somebody else pointed me to last year TopCalculette Pro. It's an awesome little application, years ahead of the one in OS X.
I think that Apple knew that others would spend time developing significantly more intense applications than the freebie that comes with the OS....which I really don't like to use if I can help it. Check out TopCalculette if you're up to HERE with the other one.
I had never really noticed the slugishness before, but now that I see it it is annoying. Forget about the feedback idea. This isn't somehting that should be lagging behind the user.
I hate Apple. Why are they doing this to us? I'm buying a Del!!!
I had never really noticed the slugishness before, but now that I see it it is annoying. Forget about the feedback idea. This isn't somehting that should be lagging behind the user.
I hate Apple. Why are they doing this to us? I'm buying a Del!!!
LOL, see what no sleep does to me.
whoa. let's not say anything we can't take back. remember apple does a lot of good to outweigh this annoying calculator oddity. dell is just a manifestation of ivel.
Well that's weird. It seems to do in only in Advanced mode. Apparently, Advanced math is much more different than we realize.
The slowness of the Calculator bugged me a while back, and so I started using KoalaCalc, which is free. However, thanks for pointing out that the Calculator has improved over the updates.
Comments
Originally posted by PB
Exactly the same result in my machine too. I think calculator's precision (or at least the method to present results) should be improved.
It looks to me like the calculator is converting to radians before it calculates. So cos(90) is really cos(pi/2) radians. And since it uses an imprecise representation of pi (9 decimal places), its answer is imprecise. You get the same answer if you type in "3.141592654/2" and then take the cosine.
Note that if you type in "3.1415926535/2" (that's 10 decimal places) and then take the cosine of that, the answer is closer to 0 than with the built-in definition of pi (4.489659216976159e-11 vs. -2.051034285153312e-10). That's about ten times closer, actually. The fact that one is negative and one is positive would seem to indicate that the calculator is using an algorithm which alternately adds and subtracts smaller and smaller fractions.
Sig figs!
I think that Apple knew that others would spend time developing significantly more intense applications than the freebie that comes with the OS....which I really don't like to use if I can help it. Check out TopCalculette if you're up to HERE with the other one.
I hate Apple. Why are they doing this to us? I'm buying a Del!!!
LOL, see what no sleep does to me.
Originally posted by Keda
I had never really noticed the slugishness before, but now that I see it it is annoying. Forget about the feedback idea. This isn't somehting that should be lagging behind the user.
I hate Apple. Why are they doing this to us? I'm buying a Del!!!
LOL, see what no sleep does to me.
whoa. let's not say anything we can't take back. remember apple does a lot of good to outweigh this annoying calculator oddity. dell is just a manifestation of ivel.
But, I was blissfully unaware of the slowness before I read this thread. Oh well, there is always my trusty TI-1795+
Originally posted by Keda
I'm playin' bro.
But, I was blissfully unaware of the slowness before I read this thread. Oh well, there is always my trusty TI-1795+
i know, dawg. i jus' forgot to add the obligatory smilies on the end of me pos'.
Originally posted by jouster
17.2 - 11.3 = 5.899999999999r
Well that's weird. It seems to do in only in Advanced mode. Apparently, Advanced math is much more different than we realize.
The slowness of the Calculator bugged me a while back, and so I started using KoalaCalc, which is free. However, thanks for pointing out that the Calculator has improved over the updates.