irrationals

nikkor180 · August 14th, 2011, 04:33 PM

Greetings:

Is there a 'reasonable' way to determine the value of an irrational such as pi, sqrt(2), e, etc. to several decimal places beyond the capacity of a given calculator? I can do so ad infinitum using a series and long division, or via Newton's method but the process is tedious and cumbersome.

Thank you.

Rich B.

mathman · August 15th, 2011, 01:12 PM

Each of the examples given has specific algorithms. There is no general purpose algorithm for irrational numbers.

August 14th, 2011, 04:33 PM	#1
nikkor180 Member Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 89 Thanks: 0	irrationals Greetings: Is there a 'reasonable' way to determine the value of an irrational such as pi, sqrt(2), e, etc. to several decimal places beyond the capacity of a given calculator? I can do so ad infinitum using a series and long division, or via Newton's method but the process is tedious and cumbersome. Thank you. Rich B.
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August 15th, 2011, 01:12 PM	#2
mathman Global Moderator Joined: May 2007 Posts: 6,727 Thanks: 687	Re: irrationals Each of the examples given has specific algorithms. There is no general purpose algorithm for irrational numbers.
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