Numeric Types in Python

Python provides several built-in numeric types to represent numbers, each suited for different purposes. The main numeric types are:

1. int (Integer)
2. float (Floating-point number)
3. complex (Complex numbers)

1. Integer (int)

• Represents whole numbers without a fractional part.
• Can be positive, negative, or zero.
• In Python 3, int can be arbitrarily large (limited only by available memory).

Examples:

a = 10
b = -5
c = 0

print(type(a))  # <class 'int'>
print(a + b)    # 5
print(c * 10)   # 0

2. Floating-Point Number (float)

• Represents real numbers with decimal points.
• Stored in double precision (64-bit) internally.
• Can represent numbers like 3.14, -0.001, or scientific notation like 1.5e2 (which is 150.0).

Examples:

pi = 3.14159
gravity = 9.8
negative_float = -0.5
scientific = 1.23e4  # 12300.0

print(type(pi))      # <class 'float'>
print(pi + gravity)  # 12.94159
print(scientific)    # 12300.0

3. Complex Numbers (complex)

• Numbers with a real and imaginary part.
• Represented as a + bj where a is the real part and b is the imaginary part.
• Useful in fields like engineering, physics, and signal processing.

Creating complex numbers:

z1 = 3 + 4j
z2 = complex(2, -3)

print(type(z1))    # <class 'complex'>
print(z1.real)     # 3.0 (real part)
print(z1.imag)     # 4.0 (imaginary part)
print(z1 + z2)     # (5+1j)

Numeric Type Conversion

You can convert between numeric types using built-in functions:

• int(x) — converts x to integer (truncates float)
• float(x) — converts x to float
• complex(x) or complex(a, b) — converts to complex number

Examples:

x = 3.7
print(int(x))    # 3 (truncates decimal)

y = 5
print(float(y))  # 5.0

a = 2
b = 3
z = complex(a, b)
print(z)         # (2+3j)

Operations with Numeric Types

Python supports all standard arithmetic operators:

x = 10       # int
y = 3.5      # float

print(x + y)   # 13.5 (float result)
print(x - y)   # 6.5
print(x * y)   # 35.0
print(x / y)   # 2.857142857142857
print(x // y)  # 2.0 (floor division)
print(x % y)   # 3.0 (modulus)
print(x ** 2)  # 100 (exponentiation)

Summary