Calculating Distance in C++: Troubleshooting Exponent Error

[wahaj]

Homework Statement

can some one tell me what I am doing wrong in this program. I am getting a
error C2296: '^' : illegal, left operand has type 'double'
error at line 10 where I do my distance calculations. I am using Microsoft Visual Studios 2008.

Homework Equations

The program is supposed to input the time in seconds and then use the formula
distance = (g * time²)/2 where g = 9.81

The Attempt at a Solution

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
   double time, distance;

   cout << "Enter the time in seconds.\n";
   cin >> time;
   distance = (9.81*(time)^2)/2;
   cout << "Distance traveled under free fall is "<< distance <<" meters per second.";
}

 

[Mark44]

Homework Statement

can some one tell me what I am doing wrong in this program. I am getting a
error C2296: '^' : illegal, left operand has type 'double'
error at line 10 where I do my distance calculations. I am using Microsoft Visual Studios 2008.

Homework Equations

The program is supposed to input the time in seconds and then use the formula
distance = (g * time²)/2 where g = 9.81

The Attempt at a Solution

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
   double time, distance;
	
	
   cout << "Enter the time in seconds.\n";
   cin >> time;
   distance = (9.81*(time)^2)/2;
   cout << "Distance traveled under free fall is "<< distance <<" meters per second.";
}

You are using ^ as an exponentiation operator - there is no such exponentiation operator in any C-based language (including C++ and C#). The ^ operator is the bitwise "exclusive or" operator.

Rewrite your assignment statement like so:

   distance = (9.81*time*time)/2;

 

[aralbrec]

^ is bitwise exclusive or

 

[wahaj]

Really? well thanks for the help

 

[thegreenlaser]

So you know, if you need to do more complicated exponents, e.g. x^(2.3), you could include <cmath> and use the "pow()" function. Then instead of writing x^y, you would write pow(x,y). However, when you're just doing something like x^2, it's easier to just use x*x.

 

[wahaj]

I know about cmath I didn't add it to my program because I was under the impression I could just use ^ to represent exponent. Thanks for the help