Nan results when iterating using sin and cos functions - c++

Question

I'm compiling this program using Code::Blocks 10.05 however normally I will get about 10 iterations done before it starts producing Nan in every single output. I was wondering if this is a problem caused by using the cos and sin functions and if there was a decent work around to avoid this?
I have to produce a lot of iterates because I am working on a project for University so it has to be accurate too. I looked up a few articles about how to avoid using sin and cos though I need to follow a few formulas rigorously otherwise the results I produce may be inaccurate so I'm not sure whether to compromise.
struct Particle // Need to define what qualities our particle has
{
double dPosition;
double dAngle;
};
Particle Subject;
void M1(double &x, double &y) //Defines movement if particle doesn't touch inner boundary
{
x = x + 2*y;
}
double d = 0.25; //This can and will be changed when I need to find a distance between
// the two cricles at a later stage
void M2(double &x,double &y, double d) //Defines movement of a particle if it impacts the inner boundary
{
double z = asin(-(sin(y)+d*cos(x + y))/0.35);
double y1 = y;
y = asin(-0.35*sin(z) + d*cos(x + y + 2*z));
x = y + y1 + x + 2*z;
}
int main()
{
cout << "Please tell me where you want this particle to start positions-wise? (Between 0 and 2PI" << endl;
cin >> Subject.dPosition;
cout << "Please tell me the angle that you would like it to make with the normal? (Between 0 and PI/2)" << endl;
cin >> Subject.dAngle;
cout << "How far would you like the distances of the two middle circles to be?" << endl;
double d;
cin >> d;
// These two functions are to understand where the experiment begins from.
// I may add a function to change where the circle starts however I will use radius = 0.35 throughout
cout << "So position is: " << Subject.dPosition << endl;
cout << "And angle with the normal is: " << Subject.dAngle <<endl;
int n=0;
while (n <= 100) //This is used to iterate the process and create an array of Particle data points
{ // in order to use this data to build up Poincare diagrams.
{
while (Subject.dPosition > 2*M_PI)
Subject.dPosition = Subject.dPosition - 2*M_PI;
}
{
if (0.35 >= abs(0.35*cos(Subject.dPosition + Subject.dAngle)+sin(Subject.dAngle))) //This is the condition of hitting the inner boundary
M2(Subject.dPosition, Subject.dAngle, d); //Inner boundary collision
else
M1(Subject.dPosition, Subject.dAngle); // Outer boundary collision
};
cout << "So position is: " << Subject.dPosition << endl;
cout << "And angle with the normal is: " << Subject.dAngle <<endl;
n++;
}
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Nan is shown in c++ as an indication of infinite, zero devision, and some other variations of non representable numbers.
Edit:
As pointed by Matteo Itallia, inf is used for infinite/zero division. I found these approaches:
template<typename T>
inline bool isnan(T value) {
return value != value;
}
// requires #include <limits>
template<typename T>
inline bool isinf(T value) {
return std::numeric_limits<T>::has_infinity &&
value == std::numeric_limits<T>::infinity();
}
Reference: http://bytes.com/topic/c/answers/588254-how-check-double-inf-nan

Answer 2

If the value is outside of [-1,+1] and passed to asin(), the result will be nan
If you need to check for Nan, try the following
if( value != value ){
printf("value is nan\n");
}