Chapter 5: Problem 5

What is the type of the result of the expression \(1+2.0+3\) ?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The result will be of type float.

Step by step solution

Identify the types of individual terms

Examine the terms in the expression to determine their types. The terms are 1, 2.0, and 3. - 1 is an integer - 2.0 is a float (decimal number) - 3 is an integer.

Apply type hierarchy rules

When performing arithmetic operations with mixed types (integers and floats), the result will be promoted to the more general type. Here, the types involved are integer and float. Therefore, the integer types will be promoted to float.

Determine the overall type

Since one of the terms (2.0) is a float, and float takes precedence over integer in arithmetic operations, the entire expression will be evaluated as a float.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

arithmetic operations in Python

Arithmetic operations in Python are basic mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Python handles these operations quite naturally.
Here are some basics:

Addition: 5 + 2
Subtraction: 5 - 2
Multiplication: 5 * 2
Division: 5 / 2

For instance, let's consider the given expression, 1 + 2.0 + 3. This involves addition. Each number gets added step-by-step.
When you type this into Python, each number will follow arithmetic operation rules until a single result is achieved.
But there's more to know when different types are involved in the expression. This brings us to type promotion rules.

type promotion

When performing arithmetic operations, Python often needs to 'promote' the types involved to ensure compatibility.
Promotion means converting numbers to a common type. This ensures the computation is accurate.
For example, an integer will be promoted to a float if combined with a float. This is called type promotion.

Integer (int), for whole numbers like 1, 2
Float (float), for decimal numbers like 1.0, 2.0
Complex (complex), for complex numbers like 1 + 2j

Python follows a specific hierarchy when promoting types:

Integers
Floats
Complex

This hierarchy means that in mixed-type expressions, Python will convert integers to floats first, then if needed to complex. In our case 1 + 2.0 + 3, all integers will be promoted to floats.

mixed-type expressions

Mixed-type expressions involve arithmetic operations between different data types, typically integers and floats in Python.
Consider 1 + 2.0 + 3, where we have both integers and a float involved.
Python automatically handles these by promoting types as needed. In this case:

1 (int) is promoted to 1.0 (float)
3 (int) is promoted to 3.0 (float)
Then, the expression becomes 1.0 + 2.0 + 3.0
Finally, the result is 6.0 (float)

This automatic type promotion ensures that the result is accurate and follows Python's rules for arithmetic operations.
When mixing types, always expect Python to convert to the more general type to avoid any precision loss or computation errors.

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What is the type of the result of the expression \(1+2.0+3\) ?

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Identify the types of individual terms

Apply type hierarchy rules

Determine the overall type

Key Concepts

arithmetic operations in Python

type promotion

mixed-type expressions

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