How To Do Math With Lists in python ?

Lists in Python can be used for various mathematical operations beyond just storing values. Whether calculating weighted averages, performing trigonometric functions, or applying mathematical operations to collections of data, Python's math module combined with list operations provides powerful computational capabilities.

Basic Math Operations with Single Values

The math module provides functions for common mathematical operations ?

import math

data = 21.6
print('The floor of 21.6 is:', math.floor(data))
print('The ceiling of 21.6 is:', math.ceil(data))
print('The factorial of 5 is:', math.factorial(5))

The floor of 21.6 is: 21
The ceiling of 21.6 is: 22
The factorial of 5 is: 120

Calculating Weighted Average of Lists

A weighted average gives different importance to different values based on their weights ?

# Calculate weighted average
values = [23, 10, 5, 32, 41]
weights = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]

weighted_sum = sum(value * weight for value, weight in zip(values, weights))
total_weight = sum(weights)
weighted_average = weighted_sum / total_weight

print(f'Weighted average: {weighted_average}')
print(f'Individual contributions: {[v * w for v, w in zip(values, weights)]}')

Weighted average: 25.9
Individual contributions: [230, 200, 150, 1280, 2050]

Trigonometric Operations with Lists

Apply trigonometric functions to multiple angles stored in lists ?

import math

degrees = [0, 30, 60, 90, 180]
radians = [math.radians(deg) for deg in degrees]

print('Angle\tSin\t\tCos\t\tTan')
print('-' * 40)
for deg, rad in zip(degrees, radians):
    sin_val = round(math.sin(rad), 4)
    cos_val = round(math.cos(rad), 4)
    tan_val = round(math.tan(rad), 4) if abs(math.cos(rad)) > 1e-10 else 'undefined'
    print(f'{deg}°\t{sin_val}\t\t{cos_val}\t\t{tan_val}')

Angle	Sin		Cos		Tan
----------------------------------------
0°	0.0		1.0		0.0
30°	0.5		0.866		0.577
60°	0.866		0.5		1.732
90°	1.0		0.0		undefined
180°	0.0		-1.0		-0.0

Element-wise Mathematical Operations

Perform mathematical operations on each element of a list ?

import math

numbers = [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

# Square roots
square_roots = [math.sqrt(x) for x in numbers]
print('Square roots:', square_roots)

# Powers
powers_of_2 = [x ** 2 for x in numbers]
print('Squares:', powers_of_2)

# Logarithms
logarithms = [round(math.log(x), 2) for x in numbers]
print('Natural logarithms:', logarithms)

Square roots: [1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0]
Squares: [1, 16, 81, 256, 625]
Natural logarithms: [0.0, 1.39, 2.2, 2.77, 3.22]

Common Python Math Functions

Conclusion

Python's math module combined with list comprehensions enables efficient mathematical operations on collections of data. Use list comprehensions for element-wise operations and built-in functions like sum() and zip() for calculations across multiple lists.