Understanding Ceil and Floor Functions

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In summary, the functions floor(x) and ceil(x) are used to round a number up or down to the nearest integer. For integers, both functions will return the same value. For non-integer numbers, floor(x) will return the highest integer less than or equal to x, while ceil(x) will return the smallest integer greater than or equal to x. Negative numbers are rounded in the opposite direction, with floor(x) rounding towards negative infinity and ceil(x) rounding towards 0.
  • #1
momentum
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Its diifcult to express my question...so, i am posting this

ceil(4.5) =?
ceil(4.1)=?
ceil(4.6)=?
 
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  • #2
ceil(x) is the smallest integer which is greater than or equal to x. In particular, if x is an integer, then ceil(x) = x, and if x is not an integer, then ceil(x) > x.
 
  • #3
ceil(4.5)=4 // is it ok ?
ceil(4.1)=4 //is it ok ?
ceil(4.6)=5 //is it ok ?
 
  • #4
momentum said:
ceil(4.5)=4 // is it ok ?
ceil(4.1)=4 //is it ok ?
ceil(4.6)=5 //is it ok ?
Nope, read the defintion given above, then try again.
 
  • #5
ah...i see, all of them should be 5 ...i had confusion on fractional part .5.
but i see ..it does not care for .5 which we use for round-off.
 
  • #6
Yes, all 5.
 
  • #7
thank you for the clarifcation
 
  • #8
Recall that

[tex]\begin{gathered}
\forall x \in \left( {a,a + 1} \right)\;{\text{where }}a \in \mathbb{Z}, \hfill \\
{\text{floor}}\left( x \right) = \left\lfloor x \right\rfloor = a \hfill \\
{\text{ceil}}\left( x \right) = \left\lceil x \right\rceil = a + 1 \hfill \\
\end{gathered} [/tex]

[tex]\forall x \in \mathbb{Z},\;\left\lfloor x \right\rfloor = \left\lceil x \right\rceil = x [/tex]
 
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  • #9
ceil -> "goes up" if it needs to, in order reach an integer
floor -> "goes down" as it needs to, in order to reach an integer
What happens with negative numbers:

[tex] floor( -1.1 ) = -2 \; ceil( -1.1 ) = -1 [/tex]
[tex] floor( -0.1 ) = -1 \; ceil( -0.1 ) = 0 [/tex]
[tex] floor( 0.9 ) = 0 \; ceil( 0.9 ) = 1[/tex]
 

What does ceil mean?

Ceil is a mathematical function that rounds a given decimal number up to the nearest integer.

How is ceil different from floor?

Ceil rounds up to the nearest integer, while floor rounds down to the nearest integer.

What is the syntax for using ceil in programming languages?

The syntax for using ceil varies slightly between programming languages, but typically it is written as "ceil(x)" where x is the number to be rounded up.

When is it appropriate to use ceil in a mathematical calculation?

Ceil is commonly used when the result of a calculation needs to be a whole number, such as when dealing with currency or counting items.

Can ceil be used on negative numbers?

Yes, ceil can be used on negative numbers. It will round the number up to the nearest integer, which may be a positive or negative number depending on the original input.

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