CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-3.xfloating-point
Wolfgang
Wolfgang

Reputation: 13

I keep getting 'float' object is not callable

I am new to coding and I have no idea how to use 'floats'. Could someone please inform me where to use floats in this piece of code so that I will not receive the:

TypeError, 'float' object is not callable.

my code so far:

def problem1_7():
    b1 = input("Enter the length of one of your bases: ")
    b2 = input("Enter the length of one of your bases: ")
    h = input("Enter the height: ")

    area = (1/2)(b1+b2)*h

    print("The area of a trapezoid with bases",b1,"and",b2,"and height      ",h,"is",area)

Upvotes: 0

Views: 486

Answers (1)

Jarek
Jarek

Reputation: 74

The problem is in area = (1/2)(b1+b2)*h.

Python syntax differs from a mathematical, for one, () are used to pass parameters to a method call. However, (1/2) returns a float, hence what is interpreted is a call with the result of b1 + b2 as parameter to (1/2).

You just need to insert * in the formula to make it right, i.e. change method invocation to multiplication (which is defined for type float).

Hence, the fixed line would be area = (1/2)*(b1+b2)*h.

Another issue, you would notice after fixing this is the actual type of all variables , i.e. b1, b2, and h being strings. To fix that you need to parse them as floats:

b1 = float(input("Enter the length of one of your bases: "))
b2 = float(input("Enter the length of one of your bases: "))
h = float(input("Enter the height: "))

Python uses duck typing, hence problem such as those often surface in run time.

Upvotes: 2

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