How to Approximate e in an Infinite Series in C - c

Question

So I am trying to do this problem:
However, I'm not entirely sure where to start or what exactly I am looking for.
In addition, I was told I should expect to give the program inputs such as: zero (0), very small (0.00001), and not so small (0.1).
I was given this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_%28mathematical_constant%29 as a reference, but that formula doesn't look exactly like the one in the problem.
And finally, I was told that the input to the program is a small number Epsilon. You may assume 0.00001f, for example.
You keep adding the infinite series until the current term's value is below the Epsilon.
But all in all, I have no clue what that means. I somewhat understand the equation on the wiki. However, I'm not sure where to start with the problem given. Looking at it, does anyone know what kind of formula I should be looking to use in C and what "E" is and where it comes into play here (i.e. within the formula, I understand it's suppose to be the user input).
Code So Far
#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
//Program that takes in multiple dates and determines the earliest one
int main(void)
{
float e = 0;
float s = 0;
float ct = 1;
float ot= 1;
int n = 0;
float i = 0;
float den = 0;
int count = 0;
printf("Enter a value for E: ");
scanf("%f", &e);
printf("The value of e is: %f", e);
for(n = 0; ct > e; n++)
{
count++;
printf("The value of the current term is: %f", ct);
printf("In here %d\n", count);
den = 0;
for(i = n; i > 0; i--)
{
den *= i;
}
//If the old term is one (meaning the very first term), then just set that to the current term
if (ot= 1)
{
ct = ot - (1.0/den);
}
//If n is even, add the term as per the rules of the formula
else if (n%2 == 0)
{
ct = ot + (1.0/den);
ot = ct;
}
//Else if n is odd, subtract the term as per the rules of the formula
else
{
ct = ot - (1.0/den);
ot = ct;
}
//If the current term becomes less than epsilon (the user input), printout the value and break from the loop
if (ct < epsilon)
{
printf("%f is less than %f",ct ,e);
break;
}
}
return 0;
}
Current Output
Enter a value for E: .00001
The value of e is: 0.000010
The value of the current term is: 1.000000
In here 1
-1.#INF00 is less than 0.000010
So based on everyone's comments, and using the 4th "Derangements" equation from wikipedia like I was told, this is the code I've come up with. The logic in my head seems to be in line with what everyone has been saying. But the output is not at all what I am trying to achieve. Does anyone have any idea from looking at this code what I might be doing wrong?

Answer 1

Σ represents a sum, so your equation means to compute the sum of the terms starting at n=0 and going towards infinity:
The notation n! means "factorial" which is a product of the numbers one through n:
Each iteration computed more accurately represents the actual value. ε is an error term meaning that the iteration is changing by less than the ε amount.
To start computing an interation you need some starting conditions:
unsigned int n = 0; // Iteration. Start with n=0;
double fact = 1; // 0! = 1. Keep running product of iteration numbers for factorial.
double sum = 0; // Starting summation. Keep a running sum of terms.
double last; // Sum of previous iteration for computing e
double e; // epsilon value for deciding when done.
Then the algorithm is straightforward:
Store the previous sum.
Compute the next sum.
Update n and compute the next factorial.
Check if the difference in the new vs. old iteration exceeds epsilon.
The code:
do {
last = sum;
sum += 1/fact;
fact *= ++n;
} while(sum-last >= e);

Answer 2

You need to write a beginning C program. There are lots of sources on the interwebs for that, including how to get user input from the argc and argv variables. It looks like you are to use 0.00001f for epsilon if it is not entered. (Use that to get the program working before trying to get it to accept input.)
For computing the series, you will use a loop and some variables: sum, current_term, and n. In each loop iteration, compute the current_term using n, increment n, check if the current term is less than epsilon, and if not add the current_term to the sum.
The big pitfall to avoid here is computing integer division by mistake. For example, you will want to avoid expressions like 1/n. If you are going to use such an expression, use 1.0/n instead.

Answer 3

Well in fact this program is very similar to the ones given in the learning to Program in C by Deitel, well now to the point (the error can't be 0 cause e is a irrational number so it can't be calculated exactly) I have here a code that may be very useful for you.
#include <stdio.h>
/* Function Prototypes*/
long double eulerCalculator( float error, signed long int *iterations );
signed long int factorial( int j );
/* The main body of the program */
int main( void )
{
/*Variable declaration*/
float error;
signed long int iterations = 1;
printf( "Max Epsilon admited: " );
scanf( "%f", &error );
printf( "\n The Euler calculated is: %f\n", eulerCalculator( error, &iterations ) );
printf( "\n The last calculated fraction is: %f\n", factorial( iterations ) );
return 1;
}
long double eulerCalculator( float error, signed long int *iterations )
{
/* We declare the variables*/
long double n, ecalc;
/* We initialize result and e constant*/
ecalc = 1;
/* While the error is higher than than the calcualted different keep the loop */
do {
n = ( ( long double ) ( 1.0 / factorial( *iterations ) ) );
ecalc += n;
++*iterations;
} while ( error < n );
return ecalc;
}
signed long int factorial( signed long int j )
{
signed long int b = j - 1;
for (; b > 1; b--){
j *= b;
}
return j;
}

Answer 4

That summation symbol gives you a clue: you need a loop.
What's 0!? 1, of course. So your starting value for e is 1.
Next you'll write a loop for n from 1 to some larger value (infinity might suggest a while loop) where you calculate each successive term, see if its size exceeds your epsilon, and add it to the sum for e.
When your terms get smaller than your epsilon, stop the loop.
Don't worry about user input for now. Get your function working. Hard code an epsilon and see what happens when you change it. Leave the input for the last bit.
You'll need a good factorial function. (Not true - thanks to Mat for reminding me.)
Did you ask where the constant e comes from? And the series? The series is the Taylor series expansion for the exponential function. See any intro calculus text. And the constant e is simple the exponential function with exponent 1.
I've got a nice Java version working here, but I'm going to refrain from posting it. It looks just like the C function will, so I don't want to give it away.
UPDATE: Since you've shown yours, I'll show you mine:
package cruft;
/**
* MathConstant uses infinite series to calculate constants (e.g. Euler)
* #author Michael
* #link
* #since 10/7/12 12:24 PM
*/
public class MathConstant {
public static void main(String[] args) {
double epsilon = 1.0e-25;
System.out.println(String.format("e = %40.35f", e(epsilon)));
}
// value should be 2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995
// e = 2.718281828459045
public static double e(double epsilon) {
double euler = 1.0;
double term = 1.0;
int n = 1;
while (term > epsilon) {
term /= n++;
euler += term;
}
return euler;
}
}
But if you ever need a factorial function I'd recommend a table, memoization, and the gamma function over the naive student implementation. Google for those if you don't know what those are. Good luck.

Answer 5

Write a MAIN function and a FUNCTION to compute the approximate sum of the below series.
(n!)/(2n+1)! (from n=1 to infinity)
Within the MAIN function:
Read a variable EPSILON of type DOUBLE (desired accuracy) from
the standard input.
EPSILON is an extremely small positive number which is less than or equal to
to 10^(-6).
EPSILON value will be passed to the FUNCTION as an argument.
Within the FUNCTION:
In a do-while loop:
Continue adding up the terms until |Sn+1 - Sn| < EPSILON.
Sn is the sum of the first n-terms.
Sn+1 is the sum of the first (n+1)-terms.
When the desired accuracy EPSILON is reached print the SUM and the number
of TERMS added to the sum.
TEST the program with different EPSILON values (from 10^(-6) to 10^(-12))
one at a time.