Learning Objectives - Arithmetic
Operators
Define the symbols for arithmetic operations
Describe what happens when the + and * operators are
used with strings
Demonstrate how to increment or decrement a variable
Identify the order of operations
Addition
The Addition (+) Operator
The addition operator works as you would expect with numbers.
print(7 + 3)
You can also add two variables together.
a = 7
b = 3
c = a + b
print(c)
challenge
What happens if you:
Make a of type float (e.g. a = 7.0)?
Make b a negative number (e.g. b = -3)?
Make b an explicitly positive number (e.g. b = +3)
Incrementing Variables
Incrementing Variables
Incrementing a variable means to change the value of a variable by a set
amount. You will most often have a counting variable, which means you
will increment by 1.
a = 0
a = a + 1
print(a)
How to Read a = a + 1
The variable a appears twice on the same line of code. But each instance of
a refers to something different.
How to Read a = a + 1
The += Operator
Incrementing is a common task for programmers. Many programming
languages have developed a shorthand for a = a + 1 because of this. a +=
1 does the same thing as a = a + 1.
a = 0
b = 0
a = a + 1
b += 1
print(a)
print(b)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change b such that b += 2?
Change b such that b += -1?
Change b such that b -= 1?
Type Casting
Type Casting
Type casting (or type conversion) is when you change the data type of a
variable.
a = 3
print(type(a))
a = str(a)
print(type(a))
What does type mean?
The type command returns the data type of the value stored in a variable.
Python abbreviates these types: int is an integer, float is a floating point
number, str is a string, and bool is a boolean.
a is initially an integer, but str(a) converted a into a string.
challenge
What happens if you:
Convert a to a floating point number?
Convert a to a boolean?
Why Type Cast?
Do you know why the code below will not work?
a = 5
b = "3"
print(a + b)
You cannot add a string to an integer. You can convert b to an integer to fix
the problem.
a = 5
b = "3"
print(a + int(b))
Data read from the keyboard or a file is always stored as a string. If you
want to use this data, you will need to know how to convert it to the proper
data type.
String Concatenation
String Concatenation
String concatenation is the act of combining two strings together. This is
done with the + operator.
a = "This is an "
b = "example string"
c = a + b
print(c)
Strings can also use the += operator for concatenation.
a = "This is an "
b = "example string"
a += b
print(a)
challenge
What happens if you:
Concatenate two strings without an extra space (e.g. a = "This is
an")?
Add 3 to a string?
Add "3" to a string?
Subtraction
Subtraction
a = 10
b = 3
c = a - b
print(c)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change b to -3?
Change c to c = a - -b?
Change b to 3.0?
Change b to False?
Subtracting a Boolean?
In Python, boolean value are more than just true and false. False has the
numerical value of 0, while true has the numerical value of 1. This is why
doing math with a boolean does not give you an error message.
The -= Operator
Decrementing is the opposite of incrementing. Like +=, there is a shorthand
for decrementing a variable - -=.
a = 10
b = 3
a -= b
print(a)
Subtraction and Strings
You might be able to concatenate strings with the + operator, but you
cannot use the - operator with them.
Division
Division
Division in Python is done with the / operator
a = 25
b = 5
print(a / b)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change b to 0?
Change b to True?
Change b to 0.5?
Change the code to
a = 25
b = 5
a /= b
print(a)
Reminder
/= works similar to += and -=
True has the value of 1
False has the value of 0
Floor Division
Normal division in Python always returns a float. If you want a whole
number, use floor division (//). Floor division does not round up, nor
round down. It removes the decimal value from the answer.
Floor Division
a = 5
b = 2
print(a // b)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change b to 5.1?
Why is there a decimal?
If floor division is about returning a whole number, why is the output
of the above code 0.0? Floor division will always return the value of a
whole number even if the data type is a float. That is, if floor division
returns a float, then it will always be .0 for the decimal value. If you
really want an integer as the result of floor division, you can always
type cast.
a = 5
b = 2
print(int(a // b))
Multiplication
Multiplication
Python uses the * operator for multiplication.
a = 5
b = 10
print (a * b)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change b to 0.1?
Change b to -3?
Change b to True?
Reminder
*= works similar to += and -=
True has the value of 1
False has the value of 0
Multiplication & Strings
Python allows you to multiply a string by a number.
a = 3
b = "Hello!"
print(a * b)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change a to 3.0?
Change a to -3?
Powers
Powers
Python uses the ** operator for powers (or exponents). So 2 ** 2 would be
two to the second power.
a = 2 ** 2
print(a)
challenge
What happens if you:
Change a to 2 ** 0?
Change a to 2 ** -2?
Change a to 2 ** False?
Square Root
The square root of 4 can be calculated as 4 raised to the power of . In
Python, this is written as 4 ** 0.5.
The sqrt function
Python does have a sqrt function, but it requires you to import the math
library. Libraries will be covered in a later lesson.
import math
square_root = math.sqrt(4)
print(square_root)
square_root = 4 ** 0.5
print(square_root)
Order of Operations
Order of Operations
Python uses the PEMDAS method for determining order of operations.
PEMDAS
The code below should output 7.0.
a = 2
b = 3
c = 4
result = 3 * a ** 3 / (b + 5) + c
print(result)
Explanation
The first step is to compute b + 5 (which is 8) because it is surrounded
by parentheses.
Next, calculate a ** 3 (which is 8) because it is an exponent.
Next, do the multiplication and division going from left to right. 3 * 8 is
24.
24 divided by 8 is 3.0 (remember, the / operator returns a float).
Finally, add 3.0 and 4 together to get 7.0.
challenge
Mental Math
5 + 7 - 10 * 3 / 0.5
Solution
Step 1: 10 * 3 = 30
Step 2: 30 / 0.5 = 60.0
Step 3: 7 - 60.0 = -53.0
Step 4: 5 + -53.0 = -48.0
Solution: -48.0
(5 * 8) - 7 ** 2 - (-1 * 18)
Solution
Step 1: 5 * 8 = 40
Step 2: -1 * 18 = -18
Step 3: 7 ** 2 = 49
Step 4: 40 - 49 = -9
Step 5: -9 - -18 = 9
Solution: 9
9 / 3 + (100 ** 0.5) - 3
Solution
Step 1: 100 ** 0.5 = 10
Step 2: 9 / 3 = 3.0
Step 3: 3.0 + 10 = 13.0
Step 4: 13.0 - 3 = 10.0
Solution: 10.0
Modulo
Modulo
Modulo is the mathematical operation that performs division but returns
the remainder. The modulo operator is %. The modulo operation happens
during the multiplication and division step of the order of operations.
Modulo
modulo = 5 % 2
print(modulo)
Order of Operations
Modulo is treated like multiplication or division, and is performed in a left
to right manner.
challenge
What happens if you:
Change modulo to 5 % -2?
Change modulo to 5 % 0?
Change modulo to 5 % True?
Formative Assessment 1
Formative Assessment 2
