DIRECT METHOD METHOD

OF INTERPOLATION
 What is Interpolation ?
Given (x0,y0), (x1,y1), …… (xn,yn), find the value of ‘y’
at a value of ‘x’ that is not given.

Figure 1 Interpolation of
2 discrete.
 Interpolants
Polynomials are the most
common choice of interpolants
because they are easy to:
Evaluate
Differentiate, and
Integrate
 Direct Method
Given ‘n+1’ data points (x0,y0), (x1,y1),…………..
(xn,yn),
pass a polynomial of order ‘n’ through the data as
given
n
y a  a x  ....................  a x .
below:
0 1 n

where a0, a1,………………. an are real constants.

 Set up ‘n+1’ equations to find ‘n+1’ constants.

 To find the value ‘y’ at a given value of ‘x’,

simply substitute the value of ‘x’ in the above

 Example 1
The upward velocity of a rocket is given as
a function of time in Table 1.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using
the direct method for linear interpolation.
Table 1 Velocity as a
function of time.

t , s  vt , m/s 
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67 Figure 2 Velocity vs. time data for
the rocket example
 Linear Interpolation
vt  a0  a1t y

v15 a 0  a1 15 362.78 x1 , y1 

v20  a 0  a1 20  517.35 x0 , y0 

f1 x 

Solving the above two equations gives, x

a0  100.93 a1 30.914 Figure 3 Linear interpolation.

Hence
vt   100.93  30.914t , 15 t 20.
v16  100.93  30.91416 393.7 m/s
 Example 2
The upward velocity of a rocket is given as
a function of time in Table 2.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using
the direct method for quadratic
interpolation.
Table 2 Velocity as a
function of time.

t , s  vt , m/s 
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67 Figure 5 Velocity vs. time data for
the rocket example
7
 Quadratic Interpolation
y

vt  a0  a1t  a2t 2 x1 , y1 

v10 a0  a1 10  a2 10 227.04
2 x2 , y2 

v15 a0  a1 15  a2 15 362.78

2

f 2 x 
v20 a0  a1 20  a2 20 517.35
2
x0 , y0 
x

Figure 6 Quadratic interpolation.

Solving the above three equations gives

a0 12.05 a1 17.733 a2 0.3766
8
 Quadratic Interpolation
(cont.)
550
517.35

500

vt  12.05  17.733t  0.3766t , 10 t 20

2
450

ys

v16 12.05  17.73316  0.376616 

400
2 f ( range)


f x desired  350

392.19 m/s 300

250

227.04 200
10 12 14 16 18 20
10 x s  range x desired 20

The absolute relative approximate errora obtained

between the results from the first and second order
polynomial is 392.19  393.70
a  100
392.19
0.38410%
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 Example 3
The upward velocity of a rocket is given as
a function of time in Table 3.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using
the direct method for cubic interpolation.
Table 3 Velocity as a
function of time.

t , s  vt , m/s 
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67 Figure 6 Velocity vs. time data for
the rocket example
10
 Cubic Interpolation
y

x3 , y3 
vt  a0  a1t  a2t  a3t
2 3

x1 , y1 
v10 227.04 a0  a1 10  a2 10  a3 10
2 3

f 3 x 
x2 , y2 
v15 362.78 a0  a1 15  a2 15  a3 15
2 3
x0 , y0 

x
v20  517.35 a0  a1 20  a2 20   a3 20 
2 3
Figure 7 Cubic
interpolation.
v22.5 602.97 a0  a1 22.5  a2 22.5  a3 22.5
2 3

a0  4.2540 a1 21.266 a2 0.13204 a3 0.0054347

11
 Cubic Interpolation (contd)
vt   4.2540  21.266t  0.13204t 2  0.0054347t 3 , 10 t 22.5
v16   4.2540  21.26616  0.1320416   0.005434716 
2 3

392.06 m/s
700
602.97

The absolute percentage

600
a
relative approximate error
ys 500 between second and third order
polynomial is
f ( range)


f x desired 
400

392.06  392.19
a  100
300
392.06
227.04 200
10
10
12 14 16 18
x s  range x desired
20 22 24
22.5
0.033269%

12
 Comparison Table
Table 4 Comparison of different orders of the
polynomial.
Order of
t(s) v (m/s) 1 2 3
Polynomial
0 0
vt 16  m/s 393.7 392.19 392.06
10 227.04
15 362.78 Absolute Relative
---------- 0.38410 % 0.033269 %
20 517.35
Approximate Error
22.5 602.97
30 901.67

13
 Distance from Velocity Profile
Find the distance covered by the rocket from t=11s to t=16s ?
vt   4.3810  21.289t  0.13064t 2  0.0054606t 3 , 10 t 22.5
16
s16  s11  vt dt
11
16
  4.2540  21.266t  0.13204t 2  0.0054347t 3 dt
11
16
 t2 t3 t4 
  4.2540t  21.266  0.13204  0.0054347 
 2 3 4  11
1605 m

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 Acceleration from Velocity Profile
Find the acceleration of the rocket at t=16s given that
 t   4.2540  21.266t  0.13204 2  0.0054347t 3 ,10 t 22.5
d
a t  vt 
 
dt
d
  4.2540  21.266t  0.13204t 2  0.0054347t 3 
dt
21.289  0.26130t  0.016382t 2 , 10 t 22.5

a16 21.266  0.2640816 0.01630416

2

29.665 m/s 2

15