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How to do basic mathematical computations

Description

How do we write the most common mathematical operations in a given piece of software? For example, how do we write multiplication, or exponentiation, or logarithms, in Python vs. R vs. Excel, and so on?

Solution, in Excel

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Each of the formulas shown on the right of the table below is valid code for use in Excel formulas, in cells in a worksheet.

Mathematical notation Excel notation Example
$x+y$ x+y =A1+B1
$x-y$ x-y =A1-B1
$xy$ x*y =A1*B1
$\frac xy$ x/y =A1/B1
$x^y$ x^y =A1^B1
$\vert x\vert$ ABS(x) =ABS(A1)
$\ln x$ LN(x) =LN(A1)
$\log_a b$ LOG(b,a) =LOG(A1,B1)
$e^x$ EXP(x) =EXP(A1)
$\pi$ PI() =PI()
$\sin x$ SIN(x) =SIN(A1)
$\sin^{-1} x$ ASIN(x) =ASIN(A1)
$\sqrt x$ SQRT(x) =SQRT(A1)

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just SIN, including COS, TAN, etc.

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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Solution, in Julia

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Mathematical notation Julia code
$x+y$ x+y
$x-y$ x-y
$xy$ x*y
$\frac xy$ x/y (or y\x)
$\left\lfloor\frac xy\right\rfloor$ x÷y
remainder of $x\div y$ x%y
$x^y$ x^y
$\vert x\vert$ abs(x)
$\ln x$ log(x)
$\log_a b$ log(a,b)
$e^x$ exp(x)
$\pi$ pi
$\sin x$ sin(x)
$\sin^{-1} x$ asin(x)
$\sqrt x$ sqrt(x)

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just sin including cos, tan, etc.

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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Using NumPy, in Python

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This answer assumes you have imported NumPy as follows.

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import numpy as np
Mathematical notation Python code Requires NumPy?
$x+y$ x+y no
$x-y$ x-y no
$xy$ x*y no
$\frac xy$ x/y no
$\left\lfloor\frac xy\right\rfloor$ x//y no
$\left\lfloor\frac xy\right\rfloor$ np.floor_divide(x,y) yes
remainder of $x\div y$ x%y no
remainder of $x\div y$ np.remainder(x,y) yes
$x^y$ x**y no
$\vert x\vert$ abs(x) no
$\vert x\vert$ np.abs(x) yes
$\ln x$ np.log(x) yes
$\log_a b$ np.log(b)/np.log(a) yes
$e^x$ np.exp(x) yes
$\pi$ np.pi yes
$\sin x$ np.sin(x) yes
$\sin^{-1} x$ np.asin(x) yes
$\sqrt x$ x**0.5 no
$\sqrt x$ np.sqrt(x) yes

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just np.sin, including np.cos, np.tan, etc.

NumPy automatically applies any of these functions to all entries of a NumPy array or pandas Series, but the built-in Python functions do not have this feature. For example, to square all numbers in an array, see below.

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import numpy as np
example_array = np.array( [ -3, 2, 0.5, -1, 10, 9.2, -3.3 ] )
example_array ** 2
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array([  9.  ,   4.  ,   0.25,   1.  , 100.  ,  84.64,  10.89])

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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Using SymPy, in Python

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This answer assumes you have imported SymPy as follows.

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from sympy import *                   # load all math functions
init_printing( use_latex='mathjax' )  # use pretty math output
Mathematical notation Python code Requires SymPy?
$x+y$ x+y no
$x-y$ x-y no
$xy$ x*y no
$\frac xy$ x/y no
$\left\lfloor\frac xy\right\rfloor$ x//y no
remainder of $x\div y$ x%y no
$x^y$ x**y no
$\vert x\vert$ abs(x) no
$\ln x$ log(x) yes
$\log_a b$ log(b,a) yes
$e^x$ E yes
$\pi$ pi yes
$\sin x$ sin(x) yes
$\sin^{-1} x$ asin(x) yes
$\sqrt x$ sqrt(x) yes

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just sin, including cos, tan, etc.

Note that SymPy gives precise answers to mathematical queries, which may not be what you want.

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sqrt(2)

$\displaystyle \sqrt{2}$

If you want a decimal approximation instead, you can use the N function.

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N(sqrt(2))

$\displaystyle 1.4142135623731$

Or you can use the evalf function.

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sqrt(2).evalf()

$\displaystyle 1.4142135623731$

By contrast, if you need an exact rational number when Python gives you an approximation, you can use the Rational function to build one. Note the differences below:

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1/3

$\displaystyle 0.333333333333333$

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Rational(1,3)

$\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}$

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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Solution, in Python

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For those expressions that need the Python math package, use the code import math beforehand to ensure that package is loaded. Alternatively, you can write from math import * and thus drop the math prefixes in the table below.

Mathematical notation Python code Requires math package?
$x+y$ x+y no
$x-y$ x-y no
$xy$ x*y no
$\frac xy$ x/y no
$\left\lfloor\frac xy\right\rfloor$ x//y no
remainder of $x\div y$ x%y no
$x^y$ x**y no
$\vert x\vert$ abs(x) no
$\ln x$ math.log(x) yes
$\log_a b$ math.log(b,a) yes
$e^x$ math.exp(x) yes
$\pi$ math.pi yes
$\sin x$ math.sin(x) yes
$\sin^{-1} x$ math.asin(x) yes
$\sqrt x$ x**0.5 no
$\sqrt x$ math.sqrt(x) yes

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just math.sin, including math.cos, math.tan, etc.

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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Solution, in R

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For those expressions that need the Python math package, use the code import math beforehand to ensure that package is loaded. Alternatively, you can write from math import * and thus drop the math prefixes in the table below.

Mathematical notation R code
$x+y$ x+y
$x-y$ x-y
$xy$ x*y
$\frac xy$ x/y
$x^y$ x^y
$\vert x\vert$ abs(x)
$\ln x$ log(x)
$\log_a b$ log(b,a)
$e^x$ exp(x)
$\pi$ pi
$\sin x$ sin(x)
$\sin^{-1} x$ asin(x)
$\sqrt x$ sqrt(x)

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just sin, including cos, tan, etc.

R naturally applies these functions across vectors. For example, you can square all the entries in a vector as in the example below.

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example.vector <- c( -3, 2, 0.5, -1, 10, 9.2, -3.3 )
example.vector ^ 2
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[1]   9.00   4.00   0.25   1.00 100.00  84.64  10.89

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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