Question

I am writing a python script for synthetic division (math division shortcut ) but I can't seem to get it to work. I'm very new at this. I had originally written this on my TI - 84 plus. I am using python 2.7; Here's the script.
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A = raw_input("Enter Constant... ")
B = raw_input("Enter X... ")
C = raw_input("Enter X^2... ")
D = raw_input("Enter X^3... ")
E = raw_input("Enter X^4... ")
X = raw_input("Enter What/x?... ")

print E
print X*E+D
print (X*E+D)*(X)+C
print X(X(X*E+D)+C)+B
print X(X(X(X*E+D)+C)+B)+A
---------------------------
thanks!

Answer 1

raw_input like that gives you a string value, not a numeric value. I'm not familiar with what you're trying to do, but something like this will probably come close:

A = float( raw_input( "Enter Constant..." ) )

Answer 2

It's a program for solving something like: (x^4-3x+5) / (x-4). Thanks! i knew it was a syntax related problem. I'll try it out now.

Answer 3

Just to be a nuisance, Python's exponent operator is a double asterick:

print 3**2
9

Answer 4

I got the following error: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "synthdiv.py", line 11, in <module>
print X(X(X*E+D)+C)+B
TypeError: 'float' object is not callable
----------------
here is the updated script:

A = float(raw_input( "Enter Constant..." ))
B = float(raw_input("Enter X... "))
C = float(raw_input("Enter X^2... "))
D = float(raw_input("Enter X^3... "))
E = float(raw_input("Enter X^4... "))
X = float(raw_input("Enter What/x?... "))

print E
print X*E+D
print (X*E+D)*(X)+C
print X(X(X*E+D)+C)+B
print X(X(X(X*E+D)+C)+B)+A
----------------------------------
Also, would I need to adapt the script for floating point? Would it make a difference? i Don't really understand what that is.

Answer 5

The problem is that multiplication needs to be expressed using the * operator.

Answer 6

For instance its not 3(4+4) its 3*(4+4)

Answer 7

Floating point is what we call numbers that have decimals. Internally, they're stored basically as binary scientific notation called floating point.

In my first reply, I could have used int() instead of float(), but I didn't know if you're user's data would have decimals. int() would truncate (chop off) the decimal. I took the chickens way out, and suggested floats.

Answer 8

So C, D, and E are all X to the power of something? If that's so, then why not simplify your inputs and only ask for the value of X? The rest can be written as:

C = X**2
D = X**3
E = X**4

Since the input for X would be immediately converted to float, then C, D, and E would automatically be floats.

Answer 9

got it to work. Thanks a bunch guys!