Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES

Nabua, Camarines Sur

LESSON 4.1 – CONTINUATION OF SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS or ROOTS OF EQUATIONS

FALSE POSITION METHOD (REGULA FALSI)

False position method is an improvement of the Bisection Method. It is an alternative technique in
determining roots based on a graphical insight. An alternative method that exploits this graphical insight is to join f
(xi) and f (xu) by a straight line. The intersection of this line with the x axis represents an improved estimate of the
root. The fact that the replacement of the curve by a straight line gives a “false position” of the root is the origin of
the name, method of false position, or in Latin, regula falsi. It is also called the linear interpolation method. This method
is usually faster to converge than the Bisection Method however this method is not ideal if the initial interval is large
(e.g. difference between xl and xu is greater than 3).
Using similar triangles (Fig. 5.12), the intersection of the straight line with the x axis can be estimated as

which can be solved for (see Box 5.1

for details

A simple algorithm for the Regula Falsi is almost the same with Bisection Method Calculation but only that
the formula of xr differ.

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CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

Example: (Same Problem with Graphical and Bisection Method)

Note: In False Position, there is a consistency in the value either at xl or xu unlike with the Bisection Method.

Thus, the value of x is: (Note that f(x l) = f(12)=6.113943 and f(xu) = f(14.8011359449913) = 0
To find the value of x, Use Formula
14.8011359449913 (6.113943)−12(0)
𝑥= = 14.8011359449913
6.113943−0

Note: The obtained value of the root using this method is slightly accurate than that using the bisection method.

OPEN METHOD

This method is based on formulas that require only a single starting value of x or two starting values that do
not necessarily bracket the root. At such, they sometimes diverge or move away from the true root as the
computation progresses. However, when the open methods converge, they usually do so much more quickly than
the bracketing methods. We will begin our discussion of open techniques with a simple version that is useful for
illustrating their general form and also for demonstrating the concept of convergence.

SIMPLE FIXED-POINT ITERATION

This method is also called one-point iteration or successive substitution. A formula can be developed by
rearranging the f(x) = 0 so that x is on the left-hand side of the equation:

This transformation can be accomplished either by algebraic manipulation or by simply adding x to both
sides of the original equation. For example

can be simply manipulated to yield

Example:

−𝑏±√𝑏2 −4𝑎𝑐
Using Quadratic Formula: 𝑥 = x1=1.618033989 and x2= -0.6180339887
2𝑎
𝑥+1 1
For instance, we can say 𝑥 2 = 𝑥 + 1 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 = 1 +
𝑥 𝑥
1
𝑥𝑖+1 = 1 + 𝑥0 = 1 Note: x0 cannot be 0
𝑥𝑖

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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

Another Equation:

𝑥 = 𝑥 2 − 1 𝑜𝑟 𝑥𝑖+1 = 𝑥𝑖2 − 1

1 1
Another Equation 𝑥(𝑥 − 1) = 1 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑥𝑖+1 = Note: x0 cannot be 1
𝑥−1 𝑥𝑖 − 1
Let’s try x0=0

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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

NEWTON-RAPHSON METHOD

The most widely used of all root-locating formulas. It is most common and most accurate root-finding
technique. This method involves the use of the slope of the tangent to the curve. The Newton-Raphson method can
be derived on the basis of this geometrical interpretation (an alternative method based on the Taylor series is
described in Box 6.2). As in Fig. 6.5, the first derivative at x is equivalent to the slope:

which can be rearranged to yield which is called the Newton-Raphson formula.

Example:

which can be substituted along with the original function into Equation to give
𝑒 −𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥𝑖
𝑥𝑖+1 = 𝑥𝑖 −
−𝑒 −𝑥𝑖 − 1
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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

Using Excel

Based on the table, the root of the function is the last value of x i+1 which is 0.56714329.
Note: The obtained value of the root using this method is much more accurate than using the first two
methods for the same number of iterations. Thus, this method is the most preferred root-finding method. However,
a potential problem in implementing the Newton-Raphson method is the evaluation of the derivative. Although this
is not inconvenient for polynomials and many other functions, there are certain functions whose derivatives may
be extremely difficult or inconvenient to evaluate.
SECANT METHOD
For these cases, the derivative can be approximated by a backward finite divided difference, as in (Fig. 6.7)

This approximation can be substituted into

Eq. above to yield the following iterative
equation:

Example:

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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

Sources:
1. Applied Numerical Methods with MATLAB for Engineers and Scientists, Steven C. Chapra,
McGraw Hill, 2nd Edition 2007/2008
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucz233Izov0
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLKtWAcUYBc&t=10s
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJYxcRpSSZY&list=PLTfoKpIjBbwXvFM31nvK41JjCVdsyJb
47&index=6

Numerical Solutions to CE Problems | Page 6 of 6