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A square root algorithm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2016

Max Planitz
Max Planitz*
Affiliation:
Thames Polytechnic, Division of Mathematics, Wellington Street, London SE18 6PF
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Extract

Although the approximation of elementary functions is a well-researched area of mathematics, very little has been published on built-in routines in any particular calculator or computer. Computer manufacturers are, understandably perhaps, reluctant to publicise details about their algorithms. Hewlett-Packard have been less secretive than most and allowed an occasional glimpse behind the scene in their own Journal and various other sources. The following square root routine for one of their machines, the now extinct 2000F series, has appeared in an Open University text on numerical computation [1]. The process of evaluating √x is carried out in four steps:

Type
Research Article
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 67 , Issue 440 , June 1983 , pp. 101 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © Mathematical Association 1983

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References

1. Numerical computation, Unit 10, Approximation II. The Open University (1976).Google Scholar
2. Cheney, E. W., Introduction to approximation theory. McGraw-Hill (1966).Google Scholar
3. Voider, J. E., The CORDIC trigonometric computing technique, IRE Trans. Electron. Comput. EC-8, 330–334 (1959).Google Scholar
4. Walther, J. S., A Unified algorithm for elementary functions, Spring Joint Computer Conf. Proc, 379–385(1971).Google Scholar