4.4.

3 Geometrical significance of Newton-Raphson method

The geometrical meaning of the Newton-Raphson method is that the point at which the tangent

to the curve y = f (x) at the points ( xn , f ( xn )) cuts the x-axis is xn +1 .

The equation of the tangent is y − f ( xn ) = f ′( xn )( x − xn )

Fig 6 graphical representation of Newton-Raphson method

f ( xn )
It intersects x-axis i.e. y = 0 at x = xn − = xn +1
f ′( xn )

Accordingly, Newton-Raphson method is also known as the method of tangents.

4.4.4 Advantage and disadvantage of Newton-Raphson method

• Advantage

The basic advantage of the Newton-Raphson method is that it converges very rapidly, since the

order of convergence of Newton-Raphson method is quadratic.

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 • Disadvantage

Newton-Raphson method fail, if f ′( x) = 0 or very small in the neighbourhood of the desired root.

In such cases the regula-falsi method should be used. The initial approximation should be taken

very close to the desired root, otherwise the method may diverge. Sometimes this method may

not be suitable for a function f (x) whose derivative is difficult to calculate.

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4.5 Secant Method

In secant method, the derivative at x n is approximated by the following difference quotient

f ( xn ) − f ( xn −1 )
f ′( xn ) ≈
xn − xn −1

Hence, the iteration scheme of Newton-Raphson method given in (4.4.1) reduces to

( xn − xn −1 ) f ( xn )
xn +1 = xn − (4.5.1)
( f ( xn ) − f ( xn −1 ))

This is the iteration scheme for secant method. It is to be noted that the iteration scheme in eq.

(4.5.1) requires two initial approximations to find the root.

4.5.1 Geometrical significance of Secant method

We approximate the curve y = f (x) between the two points ( xn , f ( xn )) and ( xn −1 , f ( xn −1 )) by a

y − f ( xn ) f ( xn −1 ) − f ( xn )
straight line. The equation of this straight line is = . It cuts the x-axis i.e.
x − xn xn −1 − xn

y=0 at x = xn +1 .

Fig 7 graphical representation of secant method

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 xn − xn −1
Therefore, the (n+1)-th approximation xn +1 is x = xn − y n = xn +1 .
y n − yn −1

In case, y n , y n −1 are of the same sign, the required point of intersection falls outside the range of

interpolation i.e. we have a case of extrapolation and in that case there is no guarantee that the

iteration will converge or not. In fact, the secant method may or may not converge. But in case

the iteration converges, this renders an efficient method for computing the required real root.

Example 9:

Find the real root of the equation 10 x + x − 4 = 0 correct to five decimal places using Secant

method.

Solution:

Let f ( x) = 10 x + x − 4 = 0 .

We first apply method of tabulation in order to find the location of rough value of the root.

Table 17: location of the root

x f (x)

0 -3

1 7

We note that f(0)<0 and f(1)>0. Thus the given equation changes its sign within the interval [0,

1]. Therefore, there exists at least one real root of the equation within [0, 1].

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The successive iterations generated by the eq. (4.5.1) have been presented in Table 18.

Table 18: Table for finding real root

n xn −1 xn y n −1 yn ( xn − xn−1 ) y n f ( x n +1 )
xn +1 = x n −
( y n − y n−1 )

0 0 1 -3 7 0.3000000 -1.70474

1 1 0.3 7 -1.70474 0.4370881 -0.827088

2 0.3 0.4370881 -1.70474 -0.827088 0.5662786 0.24993

3 0.4370881 0.5662786 -0.827088 0.24993 0.5362989 -0.0257559

4 0.5662786 0.5362989 0.24993 -0.0257559 0.5390998 -0.000711539

5 0.5362989 0.5390998 -0.0257559 -0.000711539 0.5391794 2.0981E-6

6 0.5390998 0.5391794 -0.000711539 2.0981E-6 0.5391791 -1.70286E-10

Hence, the required real root of the given equation is 0.53918 correct to five decimal places.

4.5.3 Advantage and disadvantage of secant method

• Advantage

The advantage of Secant method is that if it converges then it is convergent more rapidly than

regula-falsi method, since order of convergence of secant method is 1.61803.

• Disadvantage

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This method does not always converge in contrast to regula-falsi method. If it converges then it

is faster than regula-falsi method but lesser than Newton-Raphson method. If at any instant

f ( x n −1 ) ≅ f ( x n ) , then the method fails.