strange problem

[Gerald Ebberink]

Hi all,

I have a strange problem with a simple matrix multiplication
and maybe you could help out (and maybe it was asked a dozen times 
before, but I could not find it in the archives)

when i give the following command:
 octave:1> [1,100;0,1]*[1,0;(-1/100),1]

I get this result

ans =

   -2.0817e-17    1.0000e+02
   -1.0000e-02    1.0000e+00

which as far as I know is correct except for the upper left value.
If you do it by hand you would get something like
1 + (100*-1/100) = 0

octave agrees on with me on that part

octave:2> 1 + (100*-1/100)
ans = 0

so how does this strange number gets up there?

and even better is there a solution because this gives me a unworkable 
solution in the end.


I've used
GNU Octave, version 2.1.49 (i686-pc-linux-gnu).
on a 2.4.2x kernel (several computers)

Kind regards
        Gerald Ebberink



--
Ing. Gerald Ebberink
Laser Technician

Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Zernikelaan 25
9747 AA Groningen
The Netherlands
tel: +31 50 363 3518
lab: +31 50 363 3588
fax: +31 50 363 4003



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