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MIS 126: Programming Assignment 2 Algorithm for Computing Square Roots Due by 10:30am on Wednesday, September 16th Our second programming assignment will look at the math library. 1 Math Library We saw in class that you can get a Python program to execute mathematical commands by importing and using the math library. Some of the math library functions include Python Mathematics English pi An approximation of pi √π sqrt(x) x The square root of x sin(x) sin(x) The sine of x cos(x) cos(x) The cosine of x Recall that in order to use the functions provided by the math library, we need to import the math library into our programs using the statement import math Then, to use one of the math library functions we need to use the dot notation to tell Python that the function is located in the math library/module. For example, we write math.sqrt(x) √ to compute x. 2 Simultaneous Assignment Simultaneous assignment allows us to calculate several values all at the same time. Recall that simultaneous assignment can be used to get multiple numbers from the user in a single input. For example, if we wanted to get two numbers from the user in a single input, we could write num1, num2 = eval(input("Enter two numbers separated by a comma: ")) You will be using simultaneous assignment in your code for this project. 1 3 A Programming Project You have seen that the math library contains a function that computes the square root of numbers. In this program, you are to write your own algorithm for computing square roots (not using the built-in Python function). One way to solve this problem is to use a guess-and-check approach. You first guess what the square root might be and then see how close your guess is. You can use this information to make another guess and continue guessing until you have found the square root (or a close approximation to it). One particularly good way of making guesses is to use Newton’s method. Suppose x is the number we want the root of and guess is the current guessed answer. The guess can be improved by using guess + x guess 2 as the next guess. Write a program that implements Newton’s method. The program should prompt the user for x (the value to find the square root of) and n (the number of times to improve the guess). This input should be done using a simultaneous assignment. Starting with a guess value of guess = x/2, your program should loop the specified number of times applying Newton’s method and report the final value of guess. You should also subtract your estimate from the value of math.sqrt(x) to show how close it is. A good way to start any program is to map out a skeletal version of it, showing the major control structures (the loops and conditionals) and not much else. Here’s a skeleton for our program: #import the math library here def main(): #Prompt user to input the value for x and n, use simultaneous assignment #Compute the first guess #Loop the specified number of times - should this be a for or while loop? #Update the guess #When the loop ends, our program comes here #Print out the value of guess #Compute the square root using math.sqrt(x) #Print out the difference between guess and math.sqrt(x) main() 2 Assignment: Create a new Python file. Type this skeleton in, and then insert code to fulfill all the steps. When the program works, you are done. You need to submit the Python .py file on Blackboard by 10:30am on Wednesday, September 16th. Here are some of the things I will be looking for when I grade your assignment • Did you use comments to describe what your code is doing? You need to add more comments than what is given in the program skeleton. This is a good programming practice and also helps me follow your logic (especially if there are any bugs/errors in the code). • Did you use variable names that are descriptive? This is a good programming practice I would like you to follow. • Does your program work? I will run and test your program with various user input for x and n. • Does your program use anything that we haven’t covered in class? You can create this program with everything we did in class/everything contained in this packet. Please do not copy any code from the Internet and pass it off as your own. I am happy to help, so if you have any questions, please ask! If you email me asking for help, please send a copy of your code so I can give you meaningful feedback. 3