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Floating Point Arithmetic Presentation

Floating point arithmetic represents real numbers with decimal points, allowing for a wide range of values essential in scientific computations and graphics. The IEEE 754 standard defines the structure of floating point numbers, including components like the sign bit, exponent, and mantissa, and addresses issues such as rounding errors and overflow/underflow. Understanding these concepts is crucial for effective use in various applications, including finance and computer graphics.

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11 views3 pages

Floating Point Arithmetic Presentation

Floating point arithmetic represents real numbers with decimal points, allowing for a wide range of values essential in scientific computations and graphics. The IEEE 754 standard defines the structure of floating point numbers, including components like the sign bit, exponent, and mantissa, and addresses issues such as rounding errors and overflow/underflow. Understanding these concepts is crucial for effective use in various applications, including finance and computer graphics.

Uploaded by

Lennon Sita
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Floating Point Arithmetic in A-Level

Computer Science
Your Name

Date

Introduction
Floating point numbers represent real numbers that have decimal points, allowing for a
wider range of values than integers.

They are important for calculations involving very large or very small numbers, such as in
scientific computations and graphics.

Fixed Point vs. Floating Point


Fixed Point: Numbers have a fixed number of digits before and after the decimal point. It is
less flexible for representing a wide range of values.

Floating Point: Uses scientific notation, where values are represented with a mantissa
(significant digits) and an exponent (scale factor).

Example: 5.23 x 10^2 for 523.

IEEE 754 Standard


IEEE 754 is the most common standard for floating point arithmetic.

Components:

- Sign bit: Indicates positive or negative.

- Exponent: Determines the scale (powers of 2).

- Mantissa (Significand): The precision of the number.

Format:

- Single precision (32 bits): 1 sign bit, 8 bits exponent, 23 bits mantissa.

- Double precision (64 bits): 1 sign bit, 11 bits exponent, 52 bits mantissa.
Normalization
Floating point numbers are often normalized, meaning the leading digit is non-zero.

Example: 1.234 x 10^3 instead of 0.1234 x 10^4.

Range and Precision


Range: Defined by the size of the exponent, allowing floating point numbers to represent
very large or small numbers.

Precision: The number of digits in the mantissa defines how precise a number is. More bits
in the mantissa means more precision.

Floating Point Errors


Rounding Errors: Not all numbers can be represented exactly. Example: 1/3 = 0.3333...
leads to rounding.

Overflow/Underflow: Numbers too large or too small to be represented.

Overflow: Exceeds maximum exponent.

Underflow: Smaller than the smallest representable exponent.

Addition and Subtraction in Floating Point


Aligning Exponents: Before adding or subtracting, exponents must be aligned (the smaller
number’s exponent is adjusted).

Rounding After Calculation: The result is usually rounded back to fit the precision of the
floating point format.

Multiplication and Division in Floating Point


Multiplication: Multiply the mantissas, add the exponents.

Division: Divide the mantissas, subtract the exponents.

Real-World Applications
Scientific Computations: Handling extremely large or small measurements.

Computer Graphics: Handling scaling and rotations in 3D space.

Finance: Representing currency values with decimals.


Conclusion
Floating Point Arithmetic is essential for real-world computations but comes with
limitations such as precision and rounding errors.

Key Takeaways: Understanding the components (sign, exponent, mantissa), handling


errors, and knowing the IEEE 754 standard are critical.

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