Newtons-Raphson Method - it is when successive approximations agree to a

number of decimal places

- Finding approximate solutions for higher degree
Polynomials. Example of this is:

x5 and x6 agree to eight decimal places, therefore we

conclude that the approximation is 1.12246205

How to find the intial estimate of the root

To find the initial estimate of the root:

Curve: y = f(x) Find the Initial Interval by substituting values in the

function f(x) and by finding out that the signs have
r - the root we are trying to find changed for example:
- x-intercept of the curve
L - tangent line
�� - x-intercept of L

x = 1; f(1) = -1 //change in sign from negative

2nd Approximation (�� ) x = 2; f(2) = 62 1 to positive 62
x = 3; f(3) = 727

As you can see in the first 2 values there is already a

change in sign therefore we have a closed interval of
If we keepp repeating this process we obtain a [ 1, 2 ].
sequence of approximations
x1, x2,x3…. The interval having the value closest to zero(0) will
be the initial estimate of the root.
nth Approximation: for value x = 1; we have f(1) = -1
for value x = 2; we have f(2) = 62

Hence, the initial estimate will be 1 because

obviously its value which is -1 is closer to zero
compared to 62.
Convegence:
Parametric Differentiation
If the numbers �� become closer and closer to r as n
become large then, ��
�� ��
y’ =
��
= ��
��

The sequence converges to r. � ��

� �� �� ��
Non-convergence:
y’’= ( )= ��
�� ��
��
- most likely to happen if f’(x) is close to 0.
- if approximation falls outside the domain of f then,
Newton’s method fails.

How do we know when to stop approximating?