Roots
You are about to see your infallible micro make an unbelievably simple mistake — that even a four year old child would spot!
In the section of the program where you are asked to enter numbers yourself, we have actually included an ABS function to help your computer out of its predicament! Computers are happiest in binary arithmetic but would probably settle for hexadecimal as a compromise — but if we humans insist that micros communicate with us in the decimal system then we have only ourselves to blame if the computer seems to get it wrong occasionally.
10 REM ROOTS.
20 REM @ MICHAEL BEWS.
30 MODE 1:BORDER 1:INK 0,1:INK 1,24:INK 2,1:INK 3,24:CLS
40 PRINT"	ROOTS
50 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT"This program calcul ates roots using boththe internal ' func tion in the computer ROM and Newton Ra phson reiterative	approximation."
60 PRINT:PRINT"When is a '5' not a five
70 PRINT"The program will demonstrate on e of the problems faced by your computer
when it tries to convert the result
of its binary system calculations into
decimal for display on the screen."
80 F'RINT"Although we would need to emplo y machinecode methods to actually see th e 'bit'	difference between two seem
ingl y	identical numbers, we can show
you the	'impossible' as your computer
'fails'"
90 PRINT"to recognise the number for which it	is	searching."
100 PRINT: PRINT"	PRESS ANY KEY TO
CONTINUE	"
110 IF INKEYS<>" THEN 110