AMS 147 Computational Methods and Applications

Exercise #1

1. Consider the bisection method for solving (x) = 0.

Suppose we start the iteration with interval [a, b]. Let N be the number of iterations needed to
reach the error tolerance tol. Express N in terms of a, b and tol.
Answer:

 b
a
N  log 2 
 tol 

2. Is the bisection method guaranteed to converge?

Answer:
Yes. Each iteration reduces the size of interval by a factor of 2.

3. Consider the function g( x ) = sin( x ) .

Is x* =

a fixed point of g(x)? And why?
2

Answer:

x* =



is NOT a fixed point of g(x) because g   = 1  .
 2
2
2

Is x* = 0 a fixed point of g(x)? And why?

Answer:

x* = 0 is a fixed point of g(x) because g ( 0 ) = 0 .

4. Consider the iteration xn +1 =

cos ( xn ) + 1
2

-1-

AMS 147 Computational Methods and Applications

Is g( x ) =

cos( x ) + 1
a contraction mapping? And why?
2

Does the iteration converge for arbitrary starting point x0? And why?
Answer:

g( x ) =

sin ( x ) 1
cos( x ) + 1
is a contraction mapping because g ( x ) =
 < 1 for all x.
2
2
2

The iteration converges for arbitrary starting point x0 because g(x) is a contraction mapping.

5. Does Newtons method satisfy the consistency condition?

Answer:
Yes.

Newtons method satisfies the consistency condition.

-2-