Chapter 3

Mathematical Functions, Strings,

and Objects

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1
 Motivations
Suppose you need to estimate the area enclosed by
four cities, given the GPS locations (latitude and
longitude) of these cities, as shown in the following
diagram. How would you write a program to solve
this problem? You will be able to write such a
program after completing this chapter.

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2
 Objectives
 To solve mathematics problems by using the functions in the math
module (§3.2).
 To represent and process strings and characters (§§3.3-3.4).
 To encode characters using ASCII and Unicode (§§3.3.1-3.3.2).
 To use the ord to obtain a numerical code for a character and chr to
convert a numerical code to a character (§3.3.3).
 To represent special characters using the escape sequence (§3.3.4).
 To invoke the print function with the end argument (§3.3.5).
 To convert numbers to a string using the str function (§3.3.6).
 To use the + operator to concatenate strings (§3.3.7).
 To read strings from the console (§3.3.8).
 To introduce objects and methods (§3.5).
 To format numbers and strings using the format function (§3.6).
 To draw various shapes (§3.7).
 To draw graphics with colors and fonts (§3.8).
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3
Built In Functions

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 The math Functions
Function Description Example

fabs(x) Returns the absolute value of the argument. fabs(-2) is 2

ceil(x) Rounds x up to its nearest integer and ceil(2.1) is 3
returns this integer. ceil(-2.1) is -2
floor(x) Rounds x down to its nearest integer and floor(2.1) is 2
returns this integer. floor(-2.1) is -3
exp(x) Returns the exponential function of x (e^x). exp(1) is 2.71828
log(x) Returns the natural logarithm of x. log(2.71828) is 1.0
log(x, base) Returns the logarithm of x for the specified log10(10, 10) is 1

sqrt(x)
base.
Returns the square root of x. sqrt(4.0) is 2
MathFunctions
sin(x) Returns the sine of x. x represents an angle sin(3.14159 / 2) is 1

Run
in radians. sin(3.14159) is 0
asin(x) Returns the angle in radians for the inverse asin(1.0) is 1.57
of sine. asin(0.5) is 0.523599
cos(x) Returns the cosine of x. x represents an cos(3.14159 / 2) is 0
angle in radians. cos(3.14159) is -1
acos(x) Returns the angle in radians for the inverse acos(1.0) is 0
of cosine. acos(0.5) is 1.0472
tan(x) Returns the tangent of x. x represents an tan(3.14159 / 4) is 1
angle in radians. tan(0.0) is 0
fmod(x, y) Returns the remainder of x/y as double. fmod(2.4, 1.3) is 1.1
degrees(x) Converts angle x from radians to degrees degrees(1.57) is 90
radians(x) Converts angle x from degrees to radians radians(90) is 1.57

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Built-in Functions and math Module
>>> max(2, 3, 4) # Returns a maximum number
4
>>> min(2, 3, 4) # Returns a minimum number
2
>>> round(3.51) # Rounds to its nearest integer
4
>>> round(3.4) # Rounds to its nearest integer
3
>>> abs(-3) # Returns the absolute value
3
>>> pow(2, 3) # Same as 2 ** 3
8
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 Standard Modules
 Python has a large set of standard Modules
 When you download Python you download the
standard modules
 https://docs.python.org/3.3/library/index.html
 LINK
 Example the standard math module
 https://docs.python.org/3.3/library/math.html
 LINK
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 Problem: Compute Angles
Given three points of a triangle, you can compute
the angles using the following formula:
x2, y2
A = acos((a * a - b * b - c * c) / (-2 * b * c))
a B = acos((b * b - a * a - c * c) / (-2 * a * c))
B
c C = acos((c * c - b * b - a * a) / (-2 * a * b))
C
A x3, y3
b
x1, y1

ComputeAngles Run
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 Strings and Characters
A string is a sequence of characters. String literals
can be enclosed in matching single quotes (') or
double quotes ("). Python does not have a data type
for characters. A single-character string represents a
character.

letter = 'A' # Same as letter = "A"

numChar = '4' # Same as numChar = "4"
message = "Good morning"
# Same as message = 'Good morning'

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 NOTE
For consistency, this book uses double quotes
for a string with more than one character and
single quotes for a string with a single
character or an empty string. This convention
is consistent with other programming
languages. So, it will be easy to convert a
Python program to a program written in other
languages.

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 Unicode and ASCII Code
Python characters use Unicode, a 16-bit encoding scheme
Python supports Unicode. Unicode is an encoding scheme
for representing international characters. ASCII is a small
subset of Unicode.

DisplayUnicode Run
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 Appendix B: ASCII Character Set
ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f

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 ASCII Character Set, cont.
ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f

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 Functions ord and chr
>>> ch = 'a'
>>> ord(ch)
>>> 97
>>> chr(98)
>>> 'b'

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Escape Sequences for Special Characters
Description Escape Sequence Unicode
Backspace \b \u0008
Tab \t \u0009
Linefeed \n \u000A
Carriage return \r \u000D
Backslash \\ \u005C
Single Quote \' \u0027
Double Quote \" \u0022
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15
 Printing without the Newline
print(item, end = 'anyendingstring')

print("AAA", end = ' ')

print("BBB", end = '')
print("CCC", end = '***')
print("DDD", end = '***')

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16
 The str Function
The str function can be used to convert a number into a
string. For example,
>>> s = str(3.4) # Convert a float to string
>>> s
'3.4'
>>> s = str(3) # Convert an integer to string
>>> s
'3'
>>>

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 The String Concatenation Operator
You can use the + operator add two numbers. The +
operator can also be used to concatenate (combine) two
strings. Here are some examples:

>>> message = "Welcome " + "to " + "Python"

>>> message
'Welcome to Python'
>>> chapterNo = 2
>>> s = "Chapter " + str(chapterNo)
>>> s
'Chapter 2'
>>>

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18
 Reading Strings from the Console
To read a string from the console, use the input function.
For example, the following code reads three strings from
the keyboard:

s1 = input("Enter a string: ")

s2 = input("Enter a string: ")
s3 = input("Enter a string: ")
print("s1 is " + s1)
print("s2 is " + s2)
print("s3 is " + s3)

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 Case Study: Minimum Number of
Coins
This program lets the user enter the amount in
decimal representing dollars and cents and output
a report listing the monetary equivalent in single
dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.
Your program should report maximum number of
dollars, then the maximum number of quarters,
and so on, in this order.

ComputeChange Run
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 Introduction to Objects and Methods

In Python, all data—including numbers and strings—

are actually objects.

An object is an entity. Each object has an id and a

type. Objects of the same kind have the same type.
You can use the id function and type function to get
these information for an object.

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 Object Types and Ids
The id and type functions are rarely used in programming,
but they are good pedagogical tools for understanding
objects.
>>> n = 3 # n is an integer >>> s = "Welcome" # s is a string
>>> id(n) >>> id(s)
505408904 36201472
>>> type(n) >>> type(s)
<class ’int’> <class ’str’>
>>> f = 3.0 # f is a float
>>> id(f)
26647120
>>> type(f)
<class ’float’>
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 OOP and str Objects
n =3 f = 3.0 s = "Welcome "
i d: 505408904 id: 26647120 id: 36201472
n The object f The object s The object
for int 3 for float for str
3.0 “Welcome”

The id and type functions are rarely used in

programming, but they are good pedagogical tools
for understanding objects.

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 Object vs. Object reference Variable

For n = 3, we say n is an integer variable that holds

value 3. Strictly speaking, n is a variable that
references an int object for value 3. For simplicity,
it is fine to say n is an int variable with value 3.

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 Methods
You can perform operations on an object. The
operations are defined using functions. The
functions for the objects are called methods in
Python. Methods can only be invoked from a
specific object. For example, the string type has the
methods such as lower() and upper(), which returns
a new string in lowercase and uppercase. Here are
the examples to invoke these methods:
 What String methods are available?
 https://docs.python.org/3.3/library/stdtypes.html#string-methods
 LINK
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 str Object Methods
>>> s = "Welcome"
>>> s1 = s.lower() # Invoke the lower method
>>> s1
'welcome'
>>> s2 = s.upper() # Invoke the upper method
>>> s2
'WELCOME'

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 Striping beginning and ending
Whitespace Characters
Another useful string method is strip(), which can be used
to strip the whitespace characters from the both ends of a
string.

>>> s = "\t Welcome \n"

>>> s1 = s.strip() # Invoke the strip method
>>> s1
'Welcome'

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 Formatting Numbers and Strings
Often it is desirable to display numbers in certain format.
For example, the following code computes the interest,
given the amount and the annual interest rate.

The format function formats a number or a string and

returns a string.

format(item, format-specifier)

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 Formatting Floating-Point Numbers

print(format(57.467657, '10.2f')) format specifi er

10 . 2 f
print(format(12345678.923, '10.2f'))
print(format(57.4, '10.2f'))
field wid th conversion code
print(format(57, '10.2f'))
precisi on

10
□□□□□57.47
12345678.92
□□□□□57.40
□□□□□57.00
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 Formatting in Scientific Notation
If you change the conversion code from f to e, the
number will be formatted in scientific notation. For
example,
print(format(57.467657, '10.2e'))
print(format(0.0033923, '10.2e'))
print(format(57.4, '10.2e')) 10

print(format(57, '10.2e')) □□5.75e+01

□□3.39e-03
□□5.74e+01
□□5.70e+01
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 Formatting as a Percentage
You can use the conversion code % to format numbers as a
percentage. For example,

print(format(0.53457, '10.2%'))
print(format(0.0033923, '10.2%'))
print(format(7.4, '10.2%'))
10
print(format(57, '10.2%'))
□□□□53.46%
□□□□□0.34%
□□□740.00%
□□5700.00%

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 Justifying Format
By default, the format is right justified. You can put the
symbol < in the format specifier to specify that the item is a
left justified in the resulting format within the specified
width. For example,

print(format(57.467657, '10.2f'))
print(format(57.467657, '<10.2f'))
10
□□□□□57.47
57.47

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 Formatting Integers
You can use the conversion code d, x, o, and b to format an
integer in decimal, hexadecimal, octal, or binary. You can
specify a width for the conversion. For example,

print(format(59832, '10d'))
print(format(59832, '<10d'))
print(format(59832, '10x')) 10
print(format(59832, '<10x')) □□□□□59832
59832
□□□□□□e9b8
e9b8

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 Formatting Strings
You can use the conversion code s to format a string with a
specified width. For example,

print(format("Welcome to Python", '20s'))

print(format("Welcome to Python", '<20s'))
print(format("Welcome to Python", '>20s'))

20
Welcome to Python
Welcome to Python
□□□Welcome to Python
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 Drawing Various Shapes
A turtle contains methods for moving the pen and
setting the pen’s size and speed.

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 Turtle Pen Drawing State Methods
Method Description

turtle.pendown() Pull the pen down - drawing when moving.

turtle.penup() Pull the pen up – no drawing when moving.
turtle.pensize(width) Set the line thickness to width.

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 Turtle Motion Methods
Method Description

turtle.forward(d) Move the turtle forward by the specified distance in the

direction the turtle is headed.
turtle.backward(d) Move the turtle backward by the specified distance in the
opposite direction the turtle is headed. Do not change
the turtle’s direction.
turtle.right(angle) Turn turtle right by the specified angle.
turtle.left(angle) Turn turtle left by the specified angle.
turtle.goto(x, y) Move turtle to an absolute position.
turtle.setx(x) Move turtle’s x-coordinate to a specified position.
turtle.sety(y) Move turtle’s y-coordinate to a specified position.
turtle.setheading( Set the orientation of the turtle to a specified angle.
angle) 0-East, 90-North, 180-West, 270-South.
turtle.home() Move turtle to the origin to (0, 0) and east direction.
turtle.circle(r, ext, Draw a circle with the specified radius, extent, and
step) step.
turtle.dot(d, color) Draw a circle dot with the specified diameter and color.
turtle.undo() Undo (repeatedly) the last turtle action(s).
turtle.speed(s) Set turtle’s speed to an integer between 0 and 10.

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Problem: Draw Simple Shapes

SimpleShapes Run
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 Turtle Drawing with Colors and Fonts
Method Description

turtle.color(c) Set the pen color.

turtle.fillcolor(c) Set the pen fill color.
turtle.begin_fill() Call this method before filling a shape.
turtle.end_fill() Fill the shapes drawn before the last call to
begin_fill.
turtle.isFilling() Return the fill state. True if filling.
turtle.clear() Clear the window. State and the position of the turtle
are not effected.
turtle.reset() Clear the window and reset the state and position to
the original default value.
turtle.screensize(w, h) Set the width and height of the cancas.
turtle.hideturtle() Make the turtle invisible.
turtle.hideturtle() Make the turtle visible.
turtle.isvisible() Return True if the turtle is visible.
turtle.write(s, Write the string s on the turtle position with the
font=("Arial", 8, optional font. Font is a triple consisting of
"normal")) fontname, fontsize, and fonttype.

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 Drawing with Colors and Fonts
A turtle object contains the methods for setting
colors and fonts.

ColorShapes Run
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40