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Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
WorkingPrecision
  • See Also
    • PrecisionGoal
    • AccuracyGoal
    • Precision
    • Accuracy
    • N
    • Tolerance
  • Related Guides
    • Precision & Accuracy Control
    • Differential Equations
    • Time Measurement & Optimization
    • Neural Network Construction & Properties
    • Wavelet Analysis
  • Tech Notes
    • Numerical Integration
    • See Also
      • PrecisionGoal
      • AccuracyGoal
      • Precision
      • Accuracy
      • N
      • Tolerance
    • Related Guides
      • Precision & Accuracy Control
      • Differential Equations
      • Time Measurement & Optimization
      • Neural Network Construction & Properties
      • Wavelet Analysis
    • Tech Notes
      • Numerical Integration

WorkingPrecision

is an option for various numerical operations that specifies how many digits of precision should be maintained in internal computations.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Applications  
Possible Issues  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page
BUILT-IN SYMBOL
  • See Also
    • PrecisionGoal
    • AccuracyGoal
    • Precision
    • Accuracy
    • N
    • Tolerance
  • Related Guides
    • Precision & Accuracy Control
    • Differential Equations
    • Time Measurement & Optimization
    • Neural Network Construction & Properties
    • Wavelet Analysis
  • Tech Notes
    • Numerical Integration
    • See Also
      • PrecisionGoal
      • AccuracyGoal
      • Precision
      • Accuracy
      • N
      • Tolerance
    • Related Guides
      • Precision & Accuracy Control
      • Differential Equations
      • Time Measurement & Optimization
      • Neural Network Construction & Properties
      • Wavelet Analysis
    • Tech Notes
      • Numerical Integration

WorkingPrecision

WorkingPrecision

is an option for various numerical operations that specifies how many digits of precision should be maintained in internal computations.

Details

  • WorkingPrecision is an option for such functions as NIntegrate and FindRoot.
  • Setting WorkingPrecision->n causes all internal computations to be done to at most n‐digit precision.
  • Setting WorkingPrecision->MachinePrecision causes all internal computations to be done with machine numbers.
  • Even if internal computations are done to n‐digit precision, the final results you get may have much lower precision.

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (2)

Find a root using 60-digit precision arithmetic:

Solve a differential equation using 24-digit precision arithmetic:

Scope  (4)

Evaluate the function using 24-digit precision arithmetic:

Without higher precision you see mainly numerical roundoff error:

Approximate an integral using 24-digit precision arithmetic:

The PrecisionGoal is automatically increased to be 10 less than the working precision:

Find a minimum of a function, adaptively increasing the precision up to 50 digits:

The PrecisionGoal and AccuracyGoal are automatically set to be half the final precision:

Solve a differential equation with 32-digit precision arithmetic:

The PrecisionGoal and AccuracyGoal are set to be half of the working precision:

Using InterpolationOrder->All will reduce the errors between steps:

Applications  (1)

Check the quality of a solution to Duffing's equation by using a sequence of solution precisions:

Make a sequence of solutions at successively higher working precision:

A plot shows that some of the solutions deviate toward the end:

Plot the solution x[100] as a function of working precision:

Convergence to the solution at the highest precision indicates about 6 digits can be trusted:

Possible Issues  (2)

Low-precision parameters in functions may invalidate the use of higher-precision arithmetic:

The result is a poor approximation to :

Use of exact parameters allows comparison at different precisions:

Expect solution times to increase exponentially as a function of working precision:

A log plot of the computation time as a function of working precision:

See Also

PrecisionGoal  AccuracyGoal  Precision  Accuracy  N  Tolerance

Tech Notes

    ▪
  • Numerical Integration

Related Guides

    ▪
  • Precision & Accuracy Control
  • ▪
  • Differential Equations
  • ▪
  • Time Measurement & Optimization
  • ▪
  • Neural Network Construction & Properties
  • ▪
  • Wavelet Analysis

History

Introduced in 1988 (1.0) | Updated in 2003 (5.0)

Wolfram Research (1988), WorkingPrecision, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WorkingPrecision.html (updated 2003).

Text

Wolfram Research (1988), WorkingPrecision, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WorkingPrecision.html (updated 2003).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1988. "WorkingPrecision." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2003. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WorkingPrecision.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1988). WorkingPrecision. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WorkingPrecision.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_workingprecision, author="Wolfram Research", title="{WorkingPrecision}", year="2003", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WorkingPrecision.html}", note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_workingprecision, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={WorkingPrecision}, year={2003}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WorkingPrecision.html}, note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

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