Reciprocal
Reciprocal (÷
) is a monadic scalar function which gives the multiplicative inverse of a real or complex number. Reciprocal shares the glyph ÷
with the dyadic arithmetic function Divide.
Examples
÷1 2 3 4 5 1 0.5 0.3333333333 0.25 0.2 ÷¯2 0.5 1J2 ¯0.5 2 0.2J¯0.4 ÷0 DOMAIN ERROR: Divide by zero ÷0 ∧ ⎕DIV←1 ⍝ this sets division by 0 to always return 0 ÷0 0
Properties
The reciprocal of any real or complex number is equal to 1 divided by that number. Therefore the monadic ÷
can be seen as dyadic ÷
with default left argument of 1. This applies even to the reciprocal of 0; ÷0
and 1÷0
show identical behavior for both ⎕DIV←0
(raising DOMAIN ERROR) and ⎕DIV←1
(returning 0).
÷1 2 3 4 5 1 0.5 0.3333333333 0.25 0.2 1÷1 2 3 4 5 1 0.5 0.3333333333 0.25 0.2
For any non-zero real or complex numbers, the signum of reciprocal is equal to the conjugate of signum, and the magnitude of reciprocal is equal to the reciprocal of magnitude.
(×∘÷ ≡ +∘×)1 2 3 ¯2 0.5 1J2 1 (|∘÷ ≡ ÷∘|)1 2 3 ¯2 0.5 1J2 1
Works in: Dyalog APL