~ Numerical Differentiation and Integration ~

Numerical Differentiation

Chapter 23

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 High Accuracy Differentiation Formulas
• High-accuracy divided-difference formulas can be generated by including additional
terms from the Taylor series expansion.

• Inclusion of the 2nd derivative term has improved the accuracy to O(h2).
• Similar improved versions can be developed for the backward and centered formulas

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Forward finite-divided-difference formulas

Error

O(h)

O(h2)

Error

O(h)

O(h2)

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Backward finite-divided-difference formulas

Error

O(h)

O(h2)

Error

O(h)

O(h2)

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Centered finite-divided-difference formulas

Error

O(h2)

O(h4)

Error
O(h2)

O(h4)

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Derivation of the centered formula for f’’(xi)

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 Differentiation Using MATLAB
x f(x) First, create a file called fx1.m which contains y=f(x):
i-2 0 1.2 function y = fx1(x)
i-1 0.25 1.1035 y = 1.2 - .25*x - .5*x.^2 - .15*x.^3 -.1*x.^4 ;
i 0.50 0.925
i+1 0.75 0.6363 Command window:
i+2 1 0.2 >> x=0:.25:1
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
>> y = fx1(x)

1.2 1.1035 0.925 0.6363 0.2

>> d = diff(y) ./ diff(x) % diff() takes differences between

% consecutive vector
elements

d = -0.3859 -0.7141 -1.1547 -1.7453

Forward: x = 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

Backward: x = 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
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Example :
f(x) = -0.1x4 – 0.15x3 – 0.5x2 – 0.25x + 1.2
At x = 0.5 True value for First Derivative = -0.9125
Using finite divided differences and a step size of h = 0.25 we obtain:

x f(x) Forward Backward

i-2 0 1.2 O(h) O(h)

i-1 0.25 1.1035 Estimate -1.155 -0.714

i 0.50 0.925 εt (%) 26.5 21.7

i+1 0.75 0.6363
i+2 1 0.2

Forward difference of accuracy O(h2) is computed as:

Backward difference of accuracy O(h2) is computed as:

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 Richardson Extrapolation
• There are two ways to improve derivative estimates when employing finite divided
differences:
– Decrease the step size, or
– Use a higher-order formula that employs more points.
• A third approach, based on Richardson extrapolation, uses two derivative estimates
(with O(h2) error) to compute a third (with O(h4) error) , more accurate approximation.
We can derive this formula following the same steps used in the case of the integrals:

Example: using the previous example and Richardson’s formula, estimate the first
derivative at x=0.5 Using Centered Difference approx. (with error O(h2)) with
h=0.5 and h=0.25 :

Dh=0.5(x=0.5) = (0.2-1.2)/1 = -1 [ εt=(-.9125+1)/-.9125 = -9.6% ]

Dh=0.25(x=0.5) = (0.6363-1.103)/0.5=-0.9343 [ εt=(-.9125+0.9343)/-.9125 = -2.4% ]

The improved estimate is:

D = 4/3(-0.9343) – 1/3(-1) = -0.9125 [ εt=(-.9125+.9125)/-.9125 = 0% 🡺 perfect!]
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 Derivatives of Unequally Spaced Data
• Derivation formulas studied so far (especially the ones with O(h2) error) require
multiple points to be spaced evenly.

• Data from experiments or field studies are often collected at unequal intervals.

• Fit a Lagrange interpolating polynomial, and then calculate the 1st derivative.

As an example, second order Lagrange interpolating polynomial is used below:

*Note that any three points, xi-1 xi and xi+1 can be used to calculate the derivative. The
points do not need to be spaced equally.
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Example:
The heat flux at the soil-air interface can be computed with Fourier’s Law:
q = heat flux
k = coefficient of thermal diffusivity in soil (≈3.5x10 -7 m2/s)
ρ = soil density(≈ 1800 kg/m3)
C = soil specific heat(≈ 840 J/kg . C o)
*Positive flux value means heat is transferred from the air to the soil

Calculate dT/dz (z=0) first and then and determine the heat flux.
A temperature gradient can be measured down into the soil as shown below.

MEASUREMENTS

which can be used to compute the heat flux at z=0:

q(z=0) = -3.5x10-7(1800)(840)(-133.3 0C/m)=70.56 W/m2

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