python check string for float code example

Example 1: python is float

def is_number(x):
    '''
        Takes a word and checks if Number (Integer or Float).
    '''
    try:
        # only integers and float converts safely
        num = float(x)
        return True
    except ValueError as e: # not convertable to float
        return False

Example 2: check if a string is float python

try:
    float(element)
except ValueError:
    print "Not a float"