strange result of acos
Hi all, I have to calculate an expression using acos -function. A strange result of acos appears *1. case with error* ss <- sin(10.74*pi/180)**2 +(cos(10.74*pi/180)*cos(10.74*pi/180)*cos(0*pi/180)) ss acos(ss) [1] NaN Warning message: NaNs produced in: acos(ss) *2. case without error* ss <- sin(10.7*pi/180)**2 +(cos(10.7*pi/180)*cos(10.7*pi/180)*cos(0*pi/180)) ss acos(ss) In both cases the variable ss equals 1. I think there is a problem with precision. If I multiply ss by 0.999999999 (ss*0.99999999) no error occurs. How the results can be explained ? Regards Klaus-P.
Dr. Klaus-Peter Pleissner Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology Core Facility Bioinformatics Campus Charit? Mitte Schumannstr. 21/22 D-10117 Berlin Germany *Phone:* +49-30-28460-119 *Fax:* +49-30-28460-507 *URL:* http://web.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/bioinformatik <http://web.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/bioinformatik/> *Email:* pleissner at mpiib-berlin.mpg.de <mailto:pleissner at mpiib-berlin.mpg.de>