Python - TypeError: float object is not callable error

Question

Have got the following code so far:

class beam(object):

    def __init__(self, E, I, L):
         self.E = E  
         self.I = I  
         self.L = L  
         self.Loads = [(0.0, 0.0)] #[(Force, distance along beam)]

    def getTotalDeflection(self, x):
        """Calculate total deflection of beam due to multiple loads"""
        return sum(self.beamDeflection(loadall, x) for loadall in self.Loads)

    def getSlope(self, x):
        """Calculate gradient at a point x on beam due to deflection
        """
        import scipy.misc
        return scipy.misc.derivative(self.getTotalDeflection, x)

For the function getSlope(), I need to calculate the slope by finding the derivative of deflection with respect to x. However, I am getting the following error:

File "C:/Users/X/Downloads/beamModel.py", line 12, in class beam(object): File "C:/Users/X/Downloads/beamModel.py", line 67, in beam print b.getSlope(1.0) File "C:/Users/X/Downloads/beamModel.py", line 62, in getSlope return scipy.misc.derivative(self.getTotalDeflection, x) File "C:\Users\X\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\scipy\misc\common.py", line 258, in derivative val += weights[k]*func(x0+(k-ho)*dx,*args) TypeError: 'float' object is not callable

Edited to fix the mistake from copying and pasting.

Student1001
– Student1001

2015-12-19 00:06:10 +00:00
Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 0:06 — Student1001
– Student1001, Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 0:06

mhawke · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-19 04:53:42Z

1

The only way that this could happen is if you pass a float to derivative() in place of a function:

>>> scipy.misc.derivative(1.0, 1.0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/scipy/misc/common.py", line 195, in derivative
    val += weights[k]*func(x0+(k-ho)*dx,*args)
TypeError: 'float' object is not callable

Are you absolutely sure that your code is as posted? Most likely your code is actually calling self.getTotalDeflection and therefore passing its return value (a float) to derivative(), e.g. your code might be:

return scipy.misc.derivative(self.getTotalDeflection(x), x)

or similar, when it should really be as you have posted, i.e.

return scipy.misc.derivative(self.getTotalDeflection, x)

edited Dec 19, 2015 at 4:53

answered Dec 19, 2015 at 0:22

mhawke

87.5k10 gold badges122 silver badges142 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python - TypeError: float object is not callable error

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related