[net.text] calculating sqrt in TeX? is it possible?

podar@sbcs.UUCP (Sunil Podar) (12/29/85)

Is it possible to calculate sqrt of a dimension in TeX? E.g. for a
dimen=0.5pt, I would like 0.707pt to be the sqrt, and for
dimen=9.0pt, would like 3.0pt as the sqrt.
(I gave above examples for clarfying what I want. The results would
 be different if one worked in integers i.e. by converting dimen's to
 count's)

I looked in the TeXbook everywhere, and concluded that it has not
been provided. If indeed I am right, then how difficult would it be
to make it available in TeX as a primitive command. Is there any
other simple way to calculate sqrt (please, no power series, I think
it will be too much for TeX and would be too slow). 

I also wonder if there's a good reason for omitting sqrt and other
functions such as trignometric functions from TeX's repertoire.

I will appreciate any responses. thanks in advance.


-- 
Sunil Podar
SUNY at Stony Brook

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