Scribd
Upload
273 views3 pages

Bisection Method Theory

The bisection method is the simplest numerical scheme for finding roots of transcendental equations. It works by repeatedly bisecting the interval that contains the root, narrowing in on the root through iterative halving. The interval is halved by taking the midpoint and determining if the root lies in the upper or lower half based on the sign of the function values at the endpoints. The iterations continue until the interval size falls below a specified tolerance.

Uploaded by

Anurag Priyadarshi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
273 views3 pages

Bisection Method Theory

The bisection method is the simplest numerical scheme for finding roots of transcendental equations. It works by repeatedly bisecting the interval that contains the root, narrowing in on the root through iterative halving. The interval is halved by taking the midpoint and determining if the root lies in the upper or lower half based on the sign of the function values at the endpoints. The iterations continue until the interval size falls below a specified tolerance.

Uploaded by

Anurag Priyadarshi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

BISECTION METHOD

Bisection method is the simplest among all the numerical schemes to solve the
transcendental equations. This scheme is based on the intermediate value
theorem for continuous functions .

Consider a transcendental equation f (x) = 0  which has a zero in the interval


[a,b] and f (a) * f (b) < 0. Bisection scheme computes the zero, say c, by
repeatedly halving the interval [a,b]. That is, starting with 

c = (a+b) / 2

the interval [a,b] is replaced either with [c,b] or with [a,c] depending on the sign
of f (a) * f (c) . This process is continued until the zero is obtained. Since the zero
is obtained numerically the value of c may not exactly match with all the
decimal places of the analytical solution of f (x) = 0 in the interval [a,b]. Hence
any one of the following mechanisms can be used to stop the bisection iterations
:

C1. Fixing a priori the total number of bisection iterations N i.e., the length of the
interval or the maximum error after N iterations in this case is less than | b-a | /
2N.

C2. By testing the condition  | ci - c i-1| (where i are the iteration number) less
than some tolerance limit, say epsilon, fixed a priori. 

C3. By testing the condition | f (ci ) | less than some tolerance limit alpha again
fixed a priori.

Algorithm - Bisection Scheme

Given a function f (x) continuous on an interval [a,b] and f (a) * f (b) <
0 
Do 
       c = (a+b)/2 
       if f (a) * f (c) < 0 then  b = c 
                             else  a = c 
while (none of the convergence criteria C1, C2 or C3 is satisfied)

 
Numerical Example :
Find a root of   f (x) = 3x + sin(x) - exp(x) = 0. 

The graph of this equation is given in the figure.

Its clear from the graph that there are two roots,
one lies between  0  and  0.5  and the other lies
between 1.5 and 2.0.

Consider  the function  f (x)  in   the   interval  [0,


0.5]  since  f (0) * f (0.5) is less than zero.

Then the bisection iterations are given by

Iteration 
a b c f(a) * f(c)
No.
1 0 0.5 0.25 0.287 (+ve)
2 0.25 0.5 0.393 -0.015 (-ve)
3 0.65 0.393 0.34 9.69 E-3 (+ve)
4 0.34 0.393 0.367 -7.81 E-4 (-ve)
5 0.34 0.367 0.354 8.9 E-4 (+ve)
6 0.354 0.367 0.3605 -3.1 E-6 (-ve)

So one of the roots of 3x + sin(x) - exp(x) = 0 is approximately 0.3605.

Worked out problems


 Exapmple 1  Find a root of cos(x) - x * exp(x) = 0  Solution
 Exapmple 2  Find a root of x4-x-10 = 0  Solution
 Exapmple 3  Find a root of x-exp(-x) = 0  Solution
 Exapmple 4  Find a root of exp(-x) * (x2-5x+2) + 1= 0  Solution
 Exapmple 5  Find a root of x-sin(x)-(1/2)= 0  Solution
 Exapmple 6  Find a root of exp(-x) = 3log(x)  Solution
Problems to workout

Highlights of the scheme

 
 
 
Work out with the Bisection method here

Note : Please enter equation like 3x+sin[x]-exp[x]. Use "[ ]" brackets for transcendentals and "( )" for others eg.,
3x+sin[(x+2)]+(3/4). 'a' and 'b' are the limits within which you are going to find the root. Few examples of how to
enter equations are given below ...

(i) exp[-x]*(x^2+5x+2)+1  (ii) x^4-x-10  (iii) x-sin[x]-(1/2)  (iv) exp[(-x+2-1-2+1)]*(x^2+5x+2)+1


Solution of Transcendental Equations | Solution of Linear System of Algebraic Equations | Interpolation & Curve
Fitting
Numerical Differentiation & Integration | Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations
Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations
search

You might also like