Maths question

**Ironside** · 02-08-2006, 16:09

Originally Posted by doc_bean

2 to the power of 10000 is 2 to the power of 10000 obviously, what's the point of writing something that can be so elegantly (and correctly) expressed in a binary system in a decimal one ? I really don't get why he would ask something like that.

You don't normally use scientific calculators ? We've used them since grade 10 (I think, might have been 9).

Can yours handle numbers in that size though? My can only get to 10^100-1 and I've seen up to 10^1000-1 but not larger.

Never known about the science calculator in Windows either.

**Duke of Gloucester** · 02-08-2006, 20:52

2^10000= 10^(lg2*10000)= 10^3010.2999566398119521373889472449
If your teacher doesn't like that answer

pick up the decimals of lg2*10000=3010.x

so you get 10^0.x = 1.9950631168807583848837421626836

Thus you get 1.9950631168807583848837421626836*10^3010

Haven't anyone here learned to count with logaritmes?

This is a better method, because it will work with any number, whereas my suggestion only works with powers of 2.

And now I feel the effects of not having taken a math class in the last five years. When I was taking AP Calc I was on top of the world; now the good Duke's post is complete gibberish to me.

And I have not done a maths course for 23 years. Is there a smug smiley?

**ajaxfetish** · 02-09-2006, 08:45

Originally Posted by Duke of Gloucester

And I have not done a maths course for 23 years. Is there a smug smiley?

There ya go!

Ajax

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 02-10-2006, 01:26

Better yet, take the integral of f(x) = x^2 for the interval [0, 2^10000].

What does your calculator say about that?

**Ironside** · 02-10-2006, 10:19

Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good

Better yet, take the integral of f(x) = x^2 for the interval [0, 2^10000].

What does your calculator say about that?

It says 2,646967839710986774710839276339*10^9030

And I was using my own calculator not the windows version (except to get all the decimals in the end, can "only" get 10 on my own calc).

BTW the windows calculator can handle numbers up to something in between 10^43429 and 10^43430.

If 10^3010 is insanely big, what's 10^43429 then?

**aw89** · 02-10-2006, 18:10

Insanely big + 40419

**Crazed Rabbit** · 02-10-2006, 18:46

Wow. That is a big number. My calc (A high-end 3d graphing calculator) will only do powers of 2 up to 3321.9280948873999999. Trying to do 2 to the power of 3321.9280948874 will give me infinity.

Crazed Rabbit