CAMBRIDGE SENIOR MATHEMATICS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

MATHEMATICAL METHODS VCE UNITS1&2 INTERACTIVE TEXTBOOK

Section 6K The bisection method (page 257)

Function f(x) = x3+3x+6

left endpoint ai right endpoint bi

Step 1 -2 -1
Step 2 -1.5 -1
Step 3 -1.5 -1.25
Step 4 -1.375 -1.25
Step 5 -1.3125 -1.25
Step 6 -1.3125 -1.28125
Step 7 -1.296875 -1.28125
Step 8 -1.2890625 -1.28125
Step 9 -1.2890625 -1.28515625
Step 10 -1.2890625 -1.287109375
Step 11 -1.2880859375 -1.287109375

Solution is -1.29 to two decimal places

ACTIVE TEXTBOOK

midpoint ci = (ai + bi)/2 f(ci) f(ci) sign

-1.5 -1.875 <0
-1.25 0.296875 >0
-1.375 -0.724609375 <0
-1.3125 -0.1984863281 <0
-1.28125 0.052947998 >0
-1.296875 -0.0718193054 <0
-1.2890625 -0.0091996193 <0
-1.28515625 0.0219330192 >0
-1.287109375 0.0063814297 >0
-1.2880859375 -0.0014054095 <0
-1.2875976563 0.0024889311 >0
new endpoint new interval
a2 = c1 [-2,-1]
b3 = c2 [-1.5,-1]
a4 = c3 [-1.5,-1.25]
a5 = c4 [-1.375,-1.25]
b6 = c5 [-1.3125,-1.25]
a7 = c6 [-1.3125,-1.28125]
a8 = c7 [-1.296875,-1.28125]
b9 = c8 [-1.2890625,-1.28125]
b10 = c9 [-1.2890625,-1.28515625]
a11 = c10 [-1.2890625,-1.287109375]
b12 = c11 [-1.2880859375,-1.287109375]