Exponential notation is allowed, using either a capital or lower case “E”; “34e7” or “34E7” means 340,000,000. “-7E-3” means -.007.
Numerals must begin with a digit or decimal point and contain no alphabetic characters except an “e” or “E” near the end for exponential notation.
Real Answer can work with numbers whose magnitude ranges from 1E-4931 to 1.1E+4932 in either positive or negative domains.
Numbers must be real (i.e. not complex or imaginary (i.e. not involving sqrt(-1)).
All calculations are performed with about 19 digits of precision. The accuracy of transcendental functions is slightly less than 19 digits. The general display format uses only 16 digits so that very small round-off errors won't show. If you want to see the round-off errors, select “Num. Format” from the “Solve” menu, and then set the display precision to 18 digits. Note that changing the display precision using that dialog box does not affect the accuracy of the results in memory. To remind you of that fact, and avoid precision loss, holding down the Command key (“⌘”) while pressing “e” inserts the previous result in full precision.
The accuracy of solutions to simultaneous equations depends on the tolerance chosen in the “Iterations...” dialog box accessible from the “Solve” menu. The proportion of error in the result is almost always less than the number you enter into the tolerance field.
