Leopard Spotlight - Calculator Functions

February 20, 2008 in Leopard, Spotlight | 5 Comments

Besides doing logical expression, Leopard Spotlight can also do some mathematical calculations. Are you curious what are those functions?

I know a little bit about Java Programming Language, so I try to use the Math library, which contains some functions to do scientific calculations, on Spotlight. To my surprise, some of these functions work.

Here are some examples :

Trigonometry

  • sin(0.5) = 0.479
    sinus of 0.5, result in radian.
  • cos(0.5) = 0.878
    cosinus of 0.5, result in radian.
  • tan(0.25) = 0.255
    tangent of 0.25, result in radian.
  • asin(1) = 1.57
    arc sinus of 1 radian.
  • acos(1) = 0
    arc cosinus of 1 radian.
  • atan(1) = 0.785
    arc tangent of 1 radian.

Approximation

  • ceil(0.48) = 1
    Rounded to nearest smaller integer value.
  • rint(0.51) = 1
    Rounded to nearest integer value.

Exponential and Logarithm

  • exp(2) = 7.389
    Euler's number e to the power of 2.
  • pow(5,2) = 25
    5 to the power of 2.
  • sqrt(36) = 6
    Square-root of 36.
  • cbrt(216) = 6
    Cube-root of 216.
  • log(1e3) = 3
    Logarithmic base 10 of 1*10^3.

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5 Comments

11:47 PM

Himavanth B

well i don't no that it can even calculate Trigonometry and others thanks

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11:34 PM

Peter

heh great stuff..

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01:27 AM

christian

Of what kind is the relation between Spotlight and the Java Math library?

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05:46 PM

Juan de Dios Santander Vela

In fact, Spotlight is written in Objective-C, and uses math.h functions. Java took some of those functions for the java.math package. I've written a exhaustive exploration of math.h functions available through Spotlight's calculator in Spanish, but the functions summary is easily understandable. http://www.entremaqueros.com/bitacoras/memoria/?p=946

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11:23 PM

Ben Perry

The following functions also work :
1. fmod(a,b) - remainder of 'a' / 'b'
2. fabs(a) - absolute value of 'a'
3. hypot(a,b) - hypotenuse of triangle with sides 'a' and 'b'
4. j0(a) - zeroth Bessel function of the first kind evaluated at 'a'
5. j1(a) - first Bessel function of the first kind evaluated at 'a'
6. y0(a) - zeroth Bessel function of the second kind evaluated at 'a'
7. y1(a) - first Bessel function of the second kind evaluated at 'a'
8. erf(a) - values of the error function evaluated at 'a'
9. erfc(a) - value of the complementary error function evaluated at 'a'
X. lgamma(a) - value of the logarithm of the gamma function evaluated at 'a'

The first 3 are the most useful for basic math - the rest I have no idea what they're for. Why some of the functions in math.h work and other don't is beyond me. It's not like they're any harder to calculate.

Ben

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