home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Xref: sparky rec.humor:33986 rec.humor.d:2664 alt.folklore.computers:16312
- Newsgroups: rec.humor,rec.humor.d,alt.folklore.computers
- Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!ames!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!hpscit.sc.hp.com!scd.hp.com!hpscdm!icon.rose.hp.com!chapp
- From: chapp@hprpcd.rose.hp.com (Bill Chapp)
- Subject: Re: base -2 arithmetic (was: Re: Trinary)
- Sender: news@icon.rose.hp.com (News Administrator)
- Message-ID: <BxtyEE.Bq5@icon.rose.hp.com>
- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 22:27:50 GMT
- References: <1992Nov12.050621.2560@udel.edu>
- Organization: HP - Systems Technology Division
- X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.8 PL6]
- Lines: 17
-
- Mark Nelson (mnelson@wilma.cis.udel.edu) wrote:
- >Bases need not even be integers: one of my favorites is sqrt(2) * I
- >(sqrt(2) * J for any engineers out there :-).
-
- Someone else gave the example of base 2I using the digits 0, 1, 2, and 3.
- What are the digits for base sqrt(2)*I, and in general how do you
- determine which digits are "legal" for non integral bases?
-
- Since (sqrt(2)*I)^2 = -2, it appears that the even powered digits work
- like the base -2 example that started this mess. The odd powered digits
- seem to able to give us only imaginary multiples of sqrt(2), unless we
- allow for irrational digits.
-
- And my most important question: what does any of this have to do with
- humor?
-
- -Bill
-