Upon further reading, it seems your third example is valid. One must use parentheses if the entire exponent is 2π, as in 3^(2pi), otherwise 3^2pi should evaluate to 9pi as you said.
Also from the same further reading, using your second example, if not wanting to simply write/enter 250000000*1.01^20 we should use (250000000)(1.01)^20. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gcalctool in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1161670 Title: Order of operations is incorrect for exponents and parentheses Status in gcalctool package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: When using both parenteses and exponents, the calculator does not always follow standard order of operations. Order of operations: 1) Parentheses - simplify anything possible within grouping symbols 2) Exponents - unless grouping symbols are used, only the number directly following the carat should be treated as an exponent. 3) Multiplication or Division - whichever occurs first when reading from left to right. Parentheses are a mathematically accepted way of representing multiplication. 4) Addition or Subtraction - whichever occurs first when reading from left to right. Ex: 3^2*7 yields 63, yet 3^2(7) yields 4782969. Both * and ( ) are acceptable mathematical tools for multiplication, so they should not give two different results. Ex: 250000000(1.01)^20 gives an inaccurate answer. Order of operations is invalid. The calculator multiplies the 250000000 by the 1.01 before utilizing the exponent. Exponents come before multiplying, and thus 1.01 should be raised to the 20th power before multiplying by 250000000. Ex: 3^2pi should yield 9pi because exponents trump multiplication. However, the calculator treats this as 3^(2pi), and yields 995.041644893 ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04 Package: gcalctool 6.4.1.1-0ubuntu3 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-39.62-generic 3.2.39 Uname: Linux 3.2.0-39-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: openafs ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.1 Architecture: amd64 Date: Thu Mar 28 19:57:12 2013 MarkForUpload: True ProcEnviron: LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8 PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: gcalctool UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-12-23 (95 days ago) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gcalctool/+bug/1161670/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
