FPU
Short for Floating Point Unit, FPU is a function included in all computer processors today that allow processors to perform math floating point notations, increasing the speed and capability of a processor. On October 30, 1994 the FPU became more well known to the general public after Professor Thomas Nicely sent an e-mail indicating the there was an issue with the Intel Pentium processors and how they perform floating point divisions.
All Intel Pentium processors of 120MHz and higher no longer are affected by this issue. However, if you wish to test for this problem on your computer perform the below calculation in your calculator.
Correct Answer
962,306,957,033 / 11,010,046 = 87,402.6282027341
Incorrect Answer
962,306,957,033 / 11,010,046 = 87,399.5805831329
Correct Answer
4,195,835 / 3,145,727 = 1.33382044913624100
Incorrect Answer
4,195,835 / 3,145,727 = 1.33373906890203759
Another way of testing for this flaw is to use Microsoft Excel and enter the below formula.
=4195835-((4195835/3145727)*3145727)
When entering this formula you should receive a returned result of 0.
Also see: Coprocessor, Floating-point, Floating-point coprocessor, Floating-point notations