The Java Tutorials have been written for JDK 8. Examples and practices described in this page don't take advantage of improvements introduced in later releases and might use technology no longer available.
SeeDev.java for updated tutorials taking advantage of the latest releases.
SeeJava Language Changes for a summary of updated language features in Java SE 9 and subsequent releases.
SeeJDK Release Notes for information about new features, enhancements, and removed or deprecated options for all JDK releases.
The Java programming language supports basic arithmetic with its arithmetic operators: +, -, *, /, and %. TheMathclass in thejava.lang package provides methods and constants for doing more advanced mathematical computation.
The methods in theMath class are all static, so you call them directly from the class, like this:
Math.cos(angle);
static importlanguage feature, you don't have to writeMath in front of every math function:import static java.lang.Math.*;
This allows you to invoke theMath class methods by their simple names. For example:
cos(angle);
TheMath class includes two constants:
Math.E, which is the base of natural logarithms, andMath.PI, which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.TheMath class also includes more than 40 static methods. The following table lists a number of the basic methods.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
double abs(double d) | Returns the absolute value of the argument. |
double ceil(double d) | Returns the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to the argument. Returned as a double. |
double floor(double d) | Returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to the argument. Returned as a double. |
double rint(double d) | Returns the integer that is closest in value to the argument. Returned as a double. |
long round(double d) | Returns the closest long or int, as indicated by the method's return type, to the argument. |
double min(double arg1, double arg2) | Returns the smaller of the two arguments. |
double max(double arg1, double arg2) | Returns the larger of the two arguments. |
The following program,BasicMathDemo , illustrates how to use some of these methods:
public class BasicMathDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { double a = -191.635; double b = 43.74; int c = 16, d = 45; System.out.printf("The absolute value " + "of %.3f is %.3f%n", a, Math.abs(a)); System.out.printf("The ceiling of " + "%.2f is %.0f%n", b, Math.ceil(b)); System.out.printf("The floor of " + "%.2f is %.0f%n", b, Math.floor(b)); System.out.printf("The rint of %.2f " + "is %.0f%n", b, Math.rint(b)); System.out.printf("The max of %d and " + "%d is %d%n", c, d, Math.max(c, d)); System.out.printf("The min of of %d " + "and %d is %d%n", c, d, Math.min(c, d)); }}Here's the output from this program:
The absolute value of -191.635 is 191.635The ceiling of 43.74 is 44The floor of 43.74 is 43The rint of 43.74 is 44The max of 16 and 45 is 45The min of 16 and 45 is 16
The next table lists exponential and logarithmic methods of theMath class.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
double exp(double d) | Returns the base of the natural logarithms, e, to the power of the argument. |
double log(double d) | Returns the natural logarithm of the argument. |
double pow(double base, double exponent) | Returns the value of the first argument raised to the power of the second argument. |
double sqrt(double d) | Returns the square root of the argument. |
The following program,ExponentialDemo, displays the value ofe, then calls each of the methods listed in the previous table on arbitrarily chosen numbers:
public class ExponentialDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { double x = 11.635; double y = 2.76; System.out.printf("The value of " + "e is %.4f%n", Math.E); System.out.printf("exp(%.3f) " + "is %.3f%n", x, Math.exp(x)); System.out.printf("log(%.3f) is " + "%.3f%n", x, Math.log(x)); System.out.printf("pow(%.3f, %.3f) " + "is %.3f%n", x, y, Math.pow(x, y)); System.out.printf("sqrt(%.3f) is " + "%.3f%n", x, Math.sqrt(x)); }}Here's the output you'll see when you runExponentialDemo:
The value of e is 2.7183exp(11.635) is 112983.831log(11.635) is 2.454pow(11.635, 2.760) is 874.008sqrt(11.635) is 3.411
TheMath class also provides a collection of trigonometric functions, which are summarized in the following table. The value passed into each of these methods is an angle expressed in radians. You can use thetoRadians method to convert from degrees to radians.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
double sin(double d) | Returns the sine of the specified double value. |
double cos(double d) | Returns the cosine of the specified double value. |
double tan(double d) | Returns the tangent of the specified double value. |
double asin(double d) | Returns the arcsine of the specified double value. |
double acos(double d) | Returns the arccosine of the specified double value. |
double atan(double d) | Returns the arctangent of the specified double value. |
double atan2(double y, double x) | Converts rectangular coordinates(x, y) to polar coordinate(r, theta) and returnstheta. |
double toDegrees(double d) | Converts the argument to degrees or radians. |
Here's a program,TrigonometricDemo, that uses each of these methods to compute various trigonometric values for a 45-degree angle:
public class TrigonometricDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { double degrees = 45.0; double radians = Math.toRadians(degrees); System.out.format("The value of pi " + "is %.4f%n", Math.PI); System.out.format("The sine of %.1f " + "degrees is %.4f%n", degrees, Math.sin(radians)); System.out.format("The cosine of %.1f " + "degrees is %.4f%n", degrees, Math.cos(radians)); System.out.format("The tangent of %.1f " + "degrees is %.4f%n", degrees, Math.tan(radians)); System.out.format("The arcsine of %.4f " + "is %.4f degrees %n", Math.sin(radians), Math.toDegrees(Math.asin(Math.sin(radians)))); System.out.format("The arccosine of %.4f " + "is %.4f degrees %n", Math.cos(radians), Math.toDegrees(Math.acos(Math.cos(radians)))); System.out.format("The arctangent of %.4f " + "is %.4f degrees %n", Math.tan(radians), Math.toDegrees(Math.atan(Math.tan(radians)))); }}The output of this program is as follows:
The value of pi is 3.1416The sine of 45.0 degrees is 0.7071The cosine of 45.0 degrees is 0.7071The tangent of 45.0 degrees is 1.0000The arcsine of 0.7071 is 45.0000 degreesThe arccosine of 0.7071 is 45.0000 degreesThe arctangent of 1.0000 is 45.0000 degrees
Therandom() method returns a pseudo-randomly selected number between 0.0 and 1.0. The range includes 0.0 but not 1.0. In other words:0.0 <= Math.random() < 1.0. To get a number in a different range, you can perform arithmetic on the value returned by the random method. For example, to generate an integer between 0 and 9, you would write:
int number = (int)(Math.random() * 10);
By multiplying the value by 10, the range of possible values becomes0.0 <= number < 10.0.
UsingMath.random works well when you need to generate a single random number. If you need to generate a series of random numbers, you should create an instance ofjava.util.Random and invoke methods on that object to generate numbers.
About Oracle |Contact Us |Legal Notices |Terms of Use |Your Privacy Rights
Copyright © 1995, 2024 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.