From: "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <znmeb@...>
Date: 2008-07-02T22:28:16+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby Exponents

Tony Dermont wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to calculate using exponential operator **. However, I get a
> crash with the following message
> 
> wrong argument type Float (expected Fixnum)
> 
> The values I am using are 0.713 ** 0.5555555  => THIS CRASHES
> 
> But when I try this on a ruby command prompt, it works fine. Is there a
> way I can calculate using a float number as an exponent?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Tony

znmeb@DreamScape ~ $ echo 'puts  0.713 ** 0.5555555' > script.rb
znmeb@DreamScape ~ $ ruby script.rb
0.828672792977234
znmeb@DreamScape ~ $ ruby -e ' puts 0.713 ** 0.5555555'
0.828672792977234
znmeb@DreamScape ~ $ irb
irb(main):001:0>  0.713 ** 0.5555555
=> 0.828672792977234
irb(main):002:0> quit
znmeb@DreamScape ~ $ ruby --version
ruby 1.8.6 (2008-06-20 patchlevel 230) [x86_64-linux]
znmeb@DreamScape ~ $

So there's nothing wrong with your code. What version of Ruby do you 
have? Maybe it needs to be upgraded or re-installed.