[math-fun] Cool Heron's Formula example
From John L. Gustafson's discussion with Kahan re floating point:
Triangle with side lengths a,b,c. a=b=7/2+3*2^(-111), c=7 Units are light-years. Note that 3*2^(-111) is ~1/200 size of a proton. Area ~ 55x Earth's surface. Believe it or not, the triangle altitude is ~ 85 cm ~ 33.5" -- almost a yard. Don't try this calculation at home; it's Herondisly inaccurate.
I'm definitely spending too much time on social media; after I read Henry's post, my impulse was to click on "Like". :-) Jim Propp On Tue, Mar 21, 2017 at 12:48 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
From John L. Gustafson's discussion with Kahan re floating point:
Triangle with side lengths a,b,c.
a=b=7/2+3*2^(-111), c=7
Units are light-years.
Note that 3*2^(-111) is ~1/200 size of a proton.
Area ~ 55x Earth's surface.
Believe it or not, the triangle altitude is ~ 85 cm ~ 33.5" -- almost a yard.
Don't try this calculation at home; it's Herondisly inaccurate.
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