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Mws Gen Nle TXT Secant
Mws Gen Nle TXT Secant
05
Secant Method of Solving Nonlinear Equations
03.05.1
03.05.2
Chapter 03.05
The secant method can also be derived from geometry, as shown in Figure 1. Taking two
initial guesses, xi 1 and xi , one draws a straight line between f ( xi ) and f ( xi 1 ) passing
through the x -axis at xi 1 . ABE and DCE are similar triangles.
Hence
AB DC
AE DE
f ( xi )
f ( xi 1 )
xi xi 1 xi 1 xi 1
On rearranging, the secant method is given as
f ( xi )( xi xi 1 )
xi 1 xi
f ( xi ) f ( xi 1 )
f (x)
f (xi)
f (xi1)
C
E
xi+1
D
xi1
A
xi
Use the secant method of finding roots of equations to find the depth x to which the ball is
submerged under water. Conduct three iterations to estimate the root of the above equation.
Find the absolute relative approximate error and the number of significant digits at least
correct at the end of each iteration.
Secant Method
03.05.3
Solution
f x x 3 0.165 x 2 3.993 10 4
Let us assume the initial guesses of the root of f x 0 as x 1 0.02 and x0 0.05 .
x0
0.05
0.05
f x0 x0 x 1
f x0 f x 1
3
0
3
0
0.05
0.02
x1 x 0
100
x1
0.06461 0.05
100
0.06461
22.62%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 0, as you need an absolute relative
approximate error of 5% or less for one significant digit to be correct in your result.
Iteration 2
x 2 x1
x1
f x1 x1 x0
f x1 f x0
3
1
3
1
0.165 x 3.993 10
2
1
3
0
03.05.4
Chapter 03.05
0.06461
0.06461
0.06461
0.06241
The absolute relative approximate error
0.05
x 2 x1
100
x2
0.06241 0.06461
100
0.06241
3.525%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 1, as you need an absolute relative
approximate error of 5% or less.
Iteration 3
f x2 x2 x1
f x2 f x1
x3 x2
x2
0.06241
0.06238
3
2
3
2
0.06241
0.06241
0.06241 0.06461
0.06461
x3 x 2
100
x3
0.06238 0.06241
100
0.06238
0.0595%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 2, as you need an absolute relative
approximate error of 0.5% or less. Table 1 shows the secant method calculations for the
results from the above problem.
Table 1 Secant method results as a function of iterations.
Iteration
xi 1
xi
xi 1
a %
f xi 1
Number,
i
1
2
3
4
0.02
0.05
0.06461
0.06241
0.05
0.06461
0.06241
0.06238
0.06461
0.06241
0.06238
0.06238
22.62
3.525
0.0595
3.64 10 4
1.9812 10 5
3.2852 10 7
2.0252 10 9
1.8576 10 13
Secant Method
03.05.5
NONLINEAR EQUATIONS
Topic
Secant Method for Solving Nonlinear Equations.
Summary These are textbook notes of secant method of finding roots of nonlinear
equations. Derivations and examples are included.
Major
General Engineering
Authors
Autar Kaw
Date
August 20, 2016
Web Site
http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu