Python 3.2.2 (default, Sep 5 2011, 21:17:14)
[GCC 4.6.1] on linux2
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>>> from math import tan, pi
>>> tan(10**100)
-0.4116229628832498
>>> tan((180/pi)*(10**100)) # degrees
2.415162133199225
Of course Python has no chance of getting this right. As Feynman says, you have to multiply 2*pi by 10^100, and throw away the integer part; so the right place to start is a record of pi to 100 decimal places.
(I really need to be more careful; this isn’t the first time I’ve been caught making a trivial error in public, and it’s starting to get embarrassing.)
This one is easy. It’s zero.
(For the record)
Of course Python has no chance of getting this right. As Feynman says, you have to multiply 2*pi by 10^100, and throw away the integer part; so the right place to start is a record of pi to 100 decimal places.
(I really need to be more careful; this isn’t the first time I’ve been caught making a trivial error in public, and it’s starting to get embarrassing.)
Well, what I wrote was wrong too—what matters is the non-integer part of 10^100/(2*pi).
A tangent of a constant is 0. No matter how big a constant is.
Are you sure? Because tan(pi/4) = 1, and pi/4 is a constant.
He’s probably using “tangent” to mean derivative.
That’s my working assumption, but you never know.
A working assumption which can explain the observed result, is pretty probable. Update accordingly!
Yes, I use the “tangent” in that sense. Feynman could also.
May I point you to the A Human’s Guide to Words sequence?