Approximations of Higher Degrees:

How to derive formulas for higher degrees:

1) Write a general equation
2) Always replace the constants, if possible, with the linear approximation (and any prior
approximation method)
3) Take as many derivative as the degree of the approximation has
4) Do the inverse of the constant and set up the equation
a. The reason for this is because you want the derivative to match up so you set it
equal to the same degree of the derivative for the original function. For instance
(for a quadratic approximation):
2C 2=f ' ' (a)
1
C2 = f ' ' ( a)
2
Example for Quadratic:
2
P2 ( x )=C 0 +C1 ( xa )+C 2 ( x a )
P2 ( x )=f ( a ) + f ' ( a )( xa )+ C2 ( xa )2
P'2 ( x )=f ' ( a ) +2C 2 ( xa )
P''2 ( x )=2C 2
1
P2 ( x )=f ( a ) + f ' ( a )( xa )+ f ' ' ( a )( xa )2
2
Example for Cubic:
2
3
P3 ( x )=f ( a)+C 1 ( xa ) +C2 ( xa ) +C 3 ( xa )
1
P3 ( x )=f ( a ) + f ' ( a )( xa )+ f ' ' ( a ) ( xa )2+C 3 ( xa )3
2
P3 ' ( x )=f ' ( a ) +f ' ' ( a ) ( x a ) +3 C3 ( xa )2
P''3 ( x )=f '' ( a ) +6 C3 ( x a)
P''3 ' ( x )=6C 3
1
'
2 1
3
P3 ( x )=f ( a ) + f ( a )( xa )+ f ' ' ( a ) ( xa ) + f ' ' '(a) ( xa )
2
6

Note 1: Picking a good number is one that has a tangent line that would be appropriate (not
with a slope of zero) and close to the real value
Note 2: An nth order polynomial approximation of a function is called a Taylor Polynomial of
order n unless it is at 0, which is a Maclaurin Polynomial