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Non-Linear Function of X, It Means That F (X) Cannot Be Written As A X + B, Where A and B Are Y/dx

This document introduces numerical methods for finding the roots of non-linear algebraic equations. It discusses the false position method, which uses two estimates to iteratively find a better estimate for the root, and the bisection method, which repeatedly bisects an interval and narrow it down until the root is found to within a specified tolerance. The bisection method is presented as a step-by-step algorithm to locate one root at a time in a given interval where the function changes sign.

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138 views4 pages

Non-Linear Function of X, It Means That F (X) Cannot Be Written As A X + B, Where A and B Are Y/dx

This document introduces numerical methods for finding the roots of non-linear algebraic equations. It discusses the false position method, which uses two estimates to iteratively find a better estimate for the root, and the bisection method, which repeatedly bisects an interval and narrow it down until the root is found to within a specified tolerance. The bisection method is presented as a step-by-step algorithm to locate one root at a time in a given interval where the function changes sign.

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tatodc7
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Introduction

In this class, we will discuss algorithms for finding the roots of non-linear algebraic
equations. The problem we are dealing with here can be stated mathematically as follows:
Find values of x such that the non-linear equation, f(x)= 0 is satisfied. When we say f(x) is a
non-linear function of x, it means that f(x) cannot be written as a x + b , where a and b are
constants. When we say that f(x) is an algebraic equation, it means that f(x) does not
involve any differentials of the form dny/dxn. A simple example is that of the familiar
quadratic equation where f(x) = ax2 + bx + c = 0. Similarly, x-sin(x)=0 , x4 + 35x3 + 20 x2 + x -3
= 0 etc. are all examples of non-linear equations. Evidently, the roots can not be obtained
through analytical means except for a few simple cases. So our aim is to learn numerical
methods which will evaluate the roots approximately.

There are many ways to locate an interval a < x < b where the curve defined by f(x)=0
intersects the x axis (the x coordinate of the point of intersection is a root of the equation
f(x)=0). One way is to simply plot the function in a given interval. Another way is to find
two points on the x axis, say x=a and x=b, such that the condition f(a)*f(b)< 0 is satisfied.
i.e., the function changes sign as we move along the x axis from x=a to x=b (Let's assume
that a < b. Moreover, we restrict our attention to real roots.). This implies, for continous
functions, that the graph (curve) of the function y=f(x) intersects the x axis at least once
between x=a and x=b.
FALSE – POSITION METHOD

An algorithm for finding roots which retains that prior estimate for which the function value has
opposite sign from the function value at the current best estimate of the root. In this way, the
method of false position keeps the root bracketed (Press et al. 1992).

Using the two-point form of the line

with , using , and solving for therefore gives the iteration


Bisection Methods

We can pursue the above idea a little further by narrowing the interval until the interval
within which the root lies is small enough. For the function in Example 1, we can bisect the
interval [0,2/3] to two subintervals, [0,1/3] and [1/3,2/3]. Now, it is easily verified that f(x)
does not change sign in the subinterval [0,1/3] and that it changes sign in the subinterval
[1/3,2/3]. Hence we choose the subinterval [1/3,2/3] and bisect it further. This will result
in the choice of the new subinterval [1/2,2/3]. We approximate the root at this stage as
the arithmetic average of the end-point coordinates of this interval, this gives for the root
xr = 0.58333... Now f(0.5833)=5.4E-3; if the root is desired only to this accuracy, we can
stop here or if further accuracy is desired, we can proceed further with the bisection
method. The above method can be generalized as a bisection algorithm as follows:

1. Given f(x), choose the initial interval [x1,x2] such that x1<x2 and f(x1)*f(x2)<0.
Choose epsilon, the tolerance level. Choose N, maximum number of bisections.
Define a counter, say ib, to keep track of the number of bisections performed.

2. for ib < N+1


Compute x3 = (x1 + x2)/2.
if { |f(x3)| < epsilon then print results and exit the program}
if { f(x1)*f(x3)<0 then set x2 = x3}
else { f(x3)*f(x2)<0 then set x1 = x3}.

3. If convergence was not obtained in N bisections, print current values for x1, x2
and f(x3) and inform the user that the tolerance criterion was not satisfied in N
bisections and exit the program.

Notice that this algorithm locates only one root of the equation at a time. This is generally
true of numerical methods for solving nonlinear equations. When an equation has
multiple roots, it is the choice of the initial interval provided by the user which determines
which root is located. The choice of an interval [a,b] such that f(a)*f(b)<0 only ensures
that there is at least one real root between a and b, and therefore that the method can
converge to a root. The contrary condition, f(a)*f(b)>0 does not imply that there are no
real roots in the interval [a,b], however. Consider the example given above, with a starting
interval of [0,1]. What one can say, is that there is no guarantee of there being a root in
the interval [a,b] when f(a)*f(b)>0, and the bisection algorithm will fail in this case. Thus
the choice of starting interval is important to the success of the bisection method.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

 http://web.mit.edu/10.001/Web/Course_Notes/
NLAE/node2.html
 http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MethodofFalseP
osition.html

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