Numerical Methods

PART II:
ROOTS OF EQUATIONS
Chapter 5: Bracketing Methods
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
 Roots finding

Roots findings: One of the most basic problems in numerical analysis is

to find the value 𝑥 ∈ [𝑎, 𝑏] that would render 𝑓(𝑥) = 0.
Example: roots of linear equations such as g x = 2𝑥 − 10; is very
simple
However, for non-linear equations, we need methods to find the roots.
For second order equation, 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐, the roots can be
found by the formula

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Roots Finding Methods

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

 Graphical Methods
 Graphical methods rely on a computational device that
calculates the values of the function within certain intervals
with specific steps in order to draw the graph of the function
 Use visual inspection, the analyst can identify the points at
which the function crosses the x-axis.
 Graphical methods are very useful for one-dimensional
problems but not very precise
 Graphical methods can not be used in multi-variable problems
since it is not possible to visualize a graph of a function of
multi-variables.

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Dr. Amer M. Magableh
We can not find c analytically, but we can make a plot versus c,
and find the required value graphically
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Bracketing Method

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

 THE BISECTION METHOD
 In the bisection method, if 𝑓(𝑎)𝑓(𝑏) < 0, an estimate for the root of the
𝑎+𝑏
equation 𝑓(𝑥) = 0 can be found as the average of 𝒂 and 𝒃 (𝑥𝑖 = )
2
 Upon evaluating 𝑓(𝑥𝑖 ), the next iteration would be to set either 𝑎 = 𝑥𝑖 or
𝑏 = 𝑥𝑖 such that for the next iteration the root 𝑥𝑖+1 is between a and b.
Algorithm

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Graphical View of the Bisection Method

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

 Example
 Let 𝑓 𝑥 = sin 5𝑥 + cos 2𝑥 , find the zero value in the interval of
[0.1, 0.9], let the acceptable error 𝜀𝑠 = 0.0005

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
 Error Estimation
 Let 𝑉𝑡 to be the true value of the root and 𝑉𝑎 to be the estimate
value, then the absolute value of the error |𝐸| = |𝑉𝑡 − 𝑉𝑎 |
 The absolute error, 𝐸 , should be less than or equal to a certain
value in order to stop the iteration process (n)
 then, the number of iterations n needed to ensure that the
absolute value of the error
 Let 𝐿 = 𝑏 − 𝑎 be the length of the original interval used. The
𝑎+𝑏
first estimate 𝑥1 = and so, in the next iteration, the interval
2
𝐿
where the root is contained has a length of .
2
 As the process evolves, the interval for the iteration number n
𝐿
has a length of 𝑛
2

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Dr. Amer M. Magableh
False Position Method

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

 False Position Method
 In the false position method, the new estimate 𝑥𝑖 at iteration i is obtained by
considering the linear function passing through the two points
𝑎, 𝑓 𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏, 𝑓 𝑏 .

Algorithm

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

 Example
 Let 𝑓 𝑥 = sin 5𝑥 + cos 2𝑥 , find the zero value in the interval of [-0.6, -0.5],
let the acceptable error 𝜀𝑠 = 0.0005, use false position method

Considering

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Dr. Amer M. Magableh
 Pitfalls of False Position Algorithm
 In the previous example, it was clear that the false position
converges much faster than the bisection method for that example
 Sometimes the bisection performs better than the false position
method, such as in the following example

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Dr. Amer M. Magableh
False Position
Method

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Dr. Amer M. Magableh
Always try to make a plot of the function first

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

 Modified False Position Method

 The improved false position method is obtained by modifying

the root finding expression as given below
1 1
𝑥 𝑓
2 𝑎
𝑥𝑏 −𝑥𝑏 𝑓 𝑥𝑎 𝑥𝑎 𝑓 𝑥𝑏 −2𝑥𝑏 𝑓 𝑥𝑎
𝑥𝑖 = 1 or 𝑥𝑖 = 1
𝑓 𝑥𝑏 −𝑓 𝑥𝑎 𝑓 𝑥𝑏 − 𝑓 𝑥𝑎
2 2

Dr. Amer M. Magableh

Bracketing methods will converge to the solution
Using Bisection Method  14 iterations
Using False Position Method  39 iterations
Using Modified False Position Method  12 iterations
Dr. Amer M. Magableh
End of Chapter 5

Dr. Amer M. Magableh