Re: square roots


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Re: square roots



Trying to compute the square root of A, using rational operations:

Take a guess at Sqrt(A) and call it X0.  Divide X0 into A and let Q be the
quotient.  If X0 is an accurate guess, X0 = Q, otherwise, just average X0 and
Q (X0 + Q)/2 for the next estimate, your new X0.  Continue until X0 and Q are
very close.
Below is pseudocode for this algorithm.

Input A
Input X0
Q=A/X0
While X0<>Q
   X0 =(X0+Q)/2
   Q=A/X0
End While
Print X0

Scott

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From:   Open discussion of TI Graphing Calculators on behalf of ilya winham
Sent:   Monday, August 04, 1997 9:37 AM
To:     CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM
Subject:        square roots

Lets say in a program I wanted to find the square root of variable 'A'
where 'A' is a positive number. But I could only use +,-,*,/. So is
there a way to find square roots without using the square root symbol?