S Tutorial 02
S Tutorial 02
Tutorial Sheet 2
Arithmetic Error Analysis
1. Let X be a sufficiently large number which result in an overflow of memory on a
computing device. Let x be a sufficiently small number which result in underflow
of memory on the same computing device. Then give the output of the following
operations:
(i) x × X (ii) 3 × X (iii) 3 × x (iv) x/X (v) X/x.
2. In this question, computations are done on a computer which uses 3-digit chopping
arithmetic.
i) Compute the mid-point of the interval [0.982, 0.987]. Show all the steps of
the computation.
ii) Give a different way of computing the mid-point of [0.982, 0.987], so that the
mid-point lies in the given interval [0.982, 0.987]. Show all the steps of the
computation. Explain the differences between both these computations.
3. In the following problems, show all the steps involved in the computation.
i) Using 5-digit rounding, compute 37654 + 25.874 − 37679.
ii) Let a = 0.00456, b = 0.123, c = −0.128. Using 3-digit rounding, compute
(a + b) + c, and a + (b + c). What is your conclusion?
iii) Let a = 2, b = −0.6, c = 0.602. Using 3-digit rounding, compute a × (b + c),
and (a × b) + (a × c). What is your conclusion?
4. Consider a computing device having exponents e in the range m ≤ e ≤ M ,
m, M ∈ Z. Let n be an integer such that n ≤ |m| + 1.
i) If the device uses n-digit rounding binary floating-point arithmetic, then
show that δ = 2−n is the machine epsilon.
ii) What is the machine epsilon of the device if it uses n-digit rounding decimal
floating-point arithmetic? Justify your answer.
5. Consider a computing device that uses n-digit chopping (decimal) arithmetic. Let
fl(x) denote the floating-point approximation of a positive real number x in this
device. Prove ! !
! x − fl(x) !
! ! ≤ 10−n+1 .
! x !
6. The ideal gas law is given by P V = nRT where R is the gas constant. We are
interested in knowing the value of T for which P = V = n = 1. If R is known
only approximately as RA = 8.3143 with an absolute error at most 0.12 × 10−2 .
Obtain an upper bound for the absolute relative error in the computation of T
that results in using RA instead of R?
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S. Sivaji Ganesh and S. Baskar Spring 2022-23
Section
7. Let xA = 3.14 and yA = 2.651 be obtained from xT and yT using 4-digit rounding.
Find the smallest interval that contains
(i) xT (ii) yT (iii) xT + yT (iv) xT − yT (v) xT × yT (vi) xT /yT .
10. Let xA = 0.04078 has exactly 3 significant digits with respect to the real number
xT . Find the smallest interval in which xT lies.
11. Given x = 0.75371 and y = −0.49572. Let the product x ∗ y be computed using
3-digit rounding floating-point arithmetic. What is the absolute value of the total
error? [Give the final answer with at least 6-digits after decimal places]
12. For small values of x, the approximation sin x ≈ x is often used. Obtain a range of
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values of x for which the approximation gives an absolute error of at most ×10−6 .
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13. Is the process of computing the value of the function f (x) = (ex − 1)/x stable or
unstable for x ≈ 0? Justify your answer.
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S. Sivaji Ganesh and S. Baskar Spring 2022-23