Consequences of Solving Numerically

Dr. Holly Hirst
Appalachian State University
The Shodor Education Foundation
and
Dr. Dan Warner
Clemson University
The Shodor Education Foundation
June 1998

How does the finiteness of the computer representation of numbers affect model development and solution? What do we have to worry about?

• Types of Error
  • Approximation Error
  • Perturbation Error
  • Algorithm Error
  • Rounding Error
  • Human Error
  
  
• Computer Number Arithmetic
  • Counting versus Measuring
  • Machine Representation of Numbers - The Wilkinson Model
  • Kiss the Axioms for the Real Numbers Goodbye
  • Experiment with The Wilkinson calculator.
  • For a wider range of models, check out a different perspective on the Wilkinson Calculator.