How do I set MATLAB to read an input with more than 15 decimal places?

I have an input argument that ranges from 4 to 17 decimal places. When I try to compute the argument, MATLAB works fine for upto 16 decimal places(I get my output almost immediately), but when I enter the argument with 17 decimal places, it goes on 'Busy' forever(15 minutes till I lost my patience). Could it be something wrong with my code or should I just wait longer?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

IEEE 754 Double Precision is limited to 53 bits precision, which comes out between 15 and 16 decimal places. You cannot use ordinary MATLAB Double Precision to compute 17 decimal places. You would need to use a high precision library of some kind.

The MATLAB Symbolic Toolbox can handle more than 16 digits.