SetPrecision

SetPrecision[expr,p]

yields a version of expr in which all numbers have been set to have precision p.

Details

  • When SetPrecision is used to increase the precision of a number, the number is padded with zeros. The zeros are taken to be in base 2. In base 10, the additional digits are usually not zeros.
  • SetPrecision returns an arbitrary‐precision number, even if the precision requested is less than $MachinePrecision.
  • SetPrecision[expr,MachinePrecision] converts numbers in expr to machine precision.
  • If there are numbers too large or small to represent machine-precision numbers, SetPrecision[expr,MachinePrecision] will convert them to arbitrary-precision numbers with precision $MachinePrecision.
  • If expr contains machine‐precision numbers, SetPrecision[expr,p] can give results that differ from one computer system to another.
  • SetPrecision will first expose any hidden extra digits in the internal binary representation of a number, and, only after these are exhausted, add trailing zeros. »
  • 0.004`25 generates a number with all trailing digits zero and precision 25 on any computer system.
  • SetPrecision[expr,p] does not modify expr itself.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (3)

Convert all numbers in an expression to 20-digit precision:

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Convert all numbers to machine precision:

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Convert from a machine number to an arbitrary-precision number:

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Scope  (5)

Applications  (4)

Properties & Relations  (5)

Possible Issues  (1)

See Also

N  Precision  Chop  SetAccuracy  $MinPrecision  $NumberMarks  PrecisionGoal

Tutorials

Introduced in 1991
(2.0)
| Updated in 2003
(5.0)