False Position by Muhiemin Mazin

Republic of Iraq
Ministry of higher education

University of Karbala
College of Engineering
Petroleum department
“False-Position
method”
A report
Submitted to the petroleum engineering
Department of the university of Karbala
Prepared by Supervised by
Muhiemin Mazen Dr.Falah Hasan
Numerical methods Page |2
Contents
3.......................... ................................ Introduction
4............................................... Halting Conditions
4...................... The Effect of Non-linear Functions
5................................... ................................ Theory
5................................................... Iteration Process
5............................................... Halting Conditions
5...................... ................................ Error Analysis
7............................ ................................ Application
7............................. ................................ Example 1
7............................. ................................ Example 2
8............................... ................................ Reference
Introduction
The false-position method is a modification on the bisection method: if it is
known that the root lies on [a, b], then it is reasonable that we can approximate the
function on the interval by interpolating the points (a, f(a)) and (b, f(b)). In that case,
why not use the root of this linear interpolation as our next approximation to the root?
he bisection method chooses the midpoint as our next approximation. However,
consider the function in Figure (1),
Figure (1). A function on an interval [6, 8]

The bisection method would have us use 7 as our next
approximation, however, it should be quite apparent that we could easily
interpolate the points (6, f(6)) and (8, f(8)), as is shown in Figure (2), and
use the root of this linear interpolation as our next end point for the
interval.
Figure (2). The interpolating

linear polynomial and its root.
This should, and usually does, give better approximations of the root,
especially when the approximation of the function by a linear function is a valid.
This method is called the false-position method, also known as the reguli-falsi.
Later, we look at a case where the false position method fails because the
function is highly non-linear.
Halting Conditions
The halting conditions for the false-position method are different from the bisection
method. If you view the sequence of iterations of the false-position method in Figure
(3), you will note that only the left bound is ever updated, and because the function is
concave up, the left bound will be the only one which is ever updated.
Figure (3). Four iterations of the false-

position method on a concave-up function.
Thus, instead of checking the width of the interval, we check the change in the end
points to determine when to stop.
The Effect of Non-linear Functions

If we cannot assume that a function may be interpolated by a linear function,
then applying the false-position method can result in worse results than the bisection
method. For example, Figure (4) shows a function where the false-position method is
significantly slower than the bisection method.
Figure 4. Twenty iterations of the false-position

method on a highly-nonlinear function.
Such a situation can be recognized and compensated for by falling back on the
bisection method for two or three iterations and then resuming with the false-position
method.
Theory
Given a function of one variable, f(x), find a value r (called a root) such that
f(r) = 0.
Assumptions
We will assume that the function f(x) is continuous.
Tools
We will use sampling, bracketing, and iteration.
Initial Requirements
We have an initial bound [a, b] on the root, that is, f(a) and (b) have opposite
signs. Set the variable step = ∞.
Iteration Process
Given the interval [a, b], define c = (a f(b) − b f(a))/(f(b) − f(a)). Then
• if f(c) = 0 (unlikely in practice), then halt, as we have found a root,
• if f(c) and f(a) have opposite signs, then a root must lie on [a, c], so
assign step = b - c and assign b = c,
• else f(c) and f(b) must have opposite signs, and thus a root must lie on [c, b],
so assign step = c - a and assign a = c.
Halting Conditions
There are three conditions which may cause the iteration process to halt:
1. As indicated, if f(c) = 0.
2. We halt if both of the following conditions are met:
o The step size is sufficiently small, that is step < εstep, and
o The function evaluated at one of the end point |f(a)| or |f(b)| < εabs.
3. If we have iterated some maximum number of times, say N, and have not met
Condition 1, we halt and indicate that a solution was not found.
If we halt due to Condition 1, we state that c is our approximation to the root. If we
halt according to Condition 2, we choose either a or b, depending on whether |f(a)| <
|f(b)| or |f(a)| > |f(b)|, respectively.
If we halt due to Condition 3, then we indicate that a solution may not exist (the
function may be discontinuous).
Error Analysis
The error analysis for the false-position method is not as easy as it is for the
bisection method, however, if one of the end points becomes fixed, it can be shown
that it is still an O(h) operation, that is, it is the same rate as the bisection method,
usually faster, but possibly slower. For differentiable functions, the closer the fixed
end point is to the actual root, the faster the convergence.
To see this, let r be the root, and assume that the point b is fixed. Then, the
change in a will be proportional to the difference between the slope between (r, 0) and
(b, f(b)) and the derivative at r. To view this, first, let the error be h = a - r and assume
that we are sufficiently close to the root so that f(a) ≈ f(1)(r) h. The slope of the line
connecting (a, f(a)) and (b, f(b)) is approximately f(b)/(b - r). This is shown in Figure
(5)
Figure (5). The function f(x) near a and r with

one iteration of the false-position method.
The error after one iteration is h minus the width of the smaller shown interval,
Therefore, the closer b is to r, the better an approximation f(b)/(b - r) is to the
derivative f(1)(r), and therefore, the faster the convergence.
To visualize this, suppose the right end point b is fixed and the other, a, is
sufficiently close to the root that the function f(x) is closely approximated by the
Taylor series, that is, f(a) ≈ f(1)(r)(a - r). The lines interpolating the point (a, f(a)) and
(b, f(b)) are essentially parallel to the line interpolating (r, 0) and (b, f(b)), which is
demonstrated in Figure (7) for the function f(x) = x2 - 5 starting with the interval [2,
7].
Thus, focusing in on the region around the root and iterating, we have the behaviour
seen in Figure 3 where the next approximation follows a slope which is approximately
parallel to the blue line shown in Figure(7). (The aspect ratios of both Figures (7) and (8) are
equally distorted.)
Figure (7). The secants Figure (8). Convergence of

passing through (a, f(a)) and the false-position method.
(5½, 0).
Application
Example 1
Consider finding the root of f(x) = x2 - 3. Let εstep = 0.01, εabs = 0.01 and start with the
interval [1, 2]
Table 1. False-position method applied to f(x) = x2 - 3.
Thus, with the third iteration, we note that the last step 1.7273 → 1.7317 is less
than 0.01 and |f(1.7317)| < 0.01, and therefore we chose b = 1.7317 to be our
approximation of the root.
Note that after three iterations of the false-position method, we have an acceptable
answer (1.7317 where f(1.7317) = -0.0044) whereas with the bisection method, it took
seven iterations to find a (notable less accurate) acceptable answer (1.71344 where
f(1.73144) = 0.0082)
Example 2
Consider finding the root of f(x) = e-x(3.2 sin(x) - 0.5 cos(x)) on the interval [3, 4], this
time with εstep = 0.001, εabs = 0.001.
Table 2. False-position method applied to f(x) = e-x(3.2 sin(x) - 0.5 cos(x)).
Thus, after the sixth iteration, we note that the final step, 3.2978 → 3.2969 has a size less
than 0.001 and |f(3.2969)| < 0.001 and therefore we chose b = 3.2969 to be our approximation
of the root.
In this case, the solution we found was not as good as the solution we found using the
bisection method (f(3.2963) = 0.000034799) however, we only used six instead of
eleven iterations.
In addition we can use The false-position method in both Matlab & Maple
Reference
• Bradie, Section 2.2, The Method of False Position, p.71.
• Mathews, Section 2.2, p.56.
• Weisstein, http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MethodofFalsePosition.html.
• https://web.mit.edu/10.001/Web/Course_Notes/NLAE/node5.html
• https://atozmath.com/example/CONM/Bisection.aspx?he=e&q=fp
• http://purescience.uobabylon.edu.iq/lecture.aspx?fid=21&lcid=81355

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Republic of Iraq

Ministry of higher education

Figure (1). A function on an interval [6, 8]

Figure (2). The interpolating

Figure (3). Four iterations of the false-

The Effect of Non-linear Functions

Figure 4. Twenty iterations of the false-position

Figure (5). The function f(x) near a and r with

Figure (7). The secants Figure (8). Convergence of

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