What is the smallest decimal that can be represented using IEEE754 single precision?










1















Is seems like it would be IE-38, which would make the exponent 127-127. But when I add 1E10 and 1E-32, I get 1E10 which makes me think that 1E-32 is so small it's not being properly represented.










share|improve this question


























    1















    Is seems like it would be IE-38, which would make the exponent 127-127. But when I add 1E10 and 1E-32, I get 1E10 which makes me think that 1E-32 is so small it's not being properly represented.










    share|improve this question
























      1












      1








      1








      Is seems like it would be IE-38, which would make the exponent 127-127. But when I add 1E10 and 1E-32, I get 1E10 which makes me think that 1E-32 is so small it's not being properly represented.










      share|improve this question














      Is seems like it would be IE-38, which would make the exponent 127-127. But when I add 1E10 and 1E-32, I get 1E10 which makes me think that 1E-32 is so small it's not being properly represented.







      math architecture ieee-754






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked Nov 15 '18 at 1:08









      ShagalabagalaShagalabagala

      205




      205






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          You are mixing two different terms:



          • minimal value representable in given format (~10^-38) and


          • machine epsilon - such minimal value that 1.0 + eps != 1.0, for single precision it is about 2^-23

          For bigger value 1e10 minimal summand is ~1e10 * macheps



          Simplified example: for 4 decimal digits you can represent values 100.0 and 0.001, but 100.0 + 0.001 = 100.0 because true sum 100.001 cannot fit into 4 decimal places.






          share|improve this answer






















            Your Answer






            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function ()
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function ()
            StackExchange.snippets.init();
            );
            );
            , "code-snippets");

            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "1"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader:
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            ,
            onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );













            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fstackoverflow.com%2fquestions%2f53311037%2fwhat-is-the-smallest-decimal-that-can-be-represented-using-ieee754-single-precis%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            2














            You are mixing two different terms:



            • minimal value representable in given format (~10^-38) and


            • machine epsilon - such minimal value that 1.0 + eps != 1.0, for single precision it is about 2^-23

            For bigger value 1e10 minimal summand is ~1e10 * macheps



            Simplified example: for 4 decimal digits you can represent values 100.0 and 0.001, but 100.0 + 0.001 = 100.0 because true sum 100.001 cannot fit into 4 decimal places.






            share|improve this answer



























              2














              You are mixing two different terms:



              • minimal value representable in given format (~10^-38) and


              • machine epsilon - such minimal value that 1.0 + eps != 1.0, for single precision it is about 2^-23

              For bigger value 1e10 minimal summand is ~1e10 * macheps



              Simplified example: for 4 decimal digits you can represent values 100.0 and 0.001, but 100.0 + 0.001 = 100.0 because true sum 100.001 cannot fit into 4 decimal places.






              share|improve this answer

























                2












                2








                2







                You are mixing two different terms:



                • minimal value representable in given format (~10^-38) and


                • machine epsilon - such minimal value that 1.0 + eps != 1.0, for single precision it is about 2^-23

                For bigger value 1e10 minimal summand is ~1e10 * macheps



                Simplified example: for 4 decimal digits you can represent values 100.0 and 0.001, but 100.0 + 0.001 = 100.0 because true sum 100.001 cannot fit into 4 decimal places.






                share|improve this answer













                You are mixing two different terms:



                • minimal value representable in given format (~10^-38) and


                • machine epsilon - such minimal value that 1.0 + eps != 1.0, for single precision it is about 2^-23

                For bigger value 1e10 minimal summand is ~1e10 * macheps



                Simplified example: for 4 decimal digits you can represent values 100.0 and 0.001, but 100.0 + 0.001 = 100.0 because true sum 100.001 cannot fit into 4 decimal places.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Nov 15 '18 at 2:46









                MBoMBo

                49.8k23051




                49.8k23051





























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded
















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid


                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function ()
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fstackoverflow.com%2fquestions%2f53311037%2fwhat-is-the-smallest-decimal-that-can-be-represented-using-ieee754-single-precis%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    How to how show current date and time by default on contact form 7 in WordPress without taking input from user in datetimepicker

                    Syphilis

                    Darth Vader #20