Interpolation – Direct Method

Courtesy: Autar Kaw, Luke Snyder

https://nm.mathforcollege.com/
Welcome!!
Learning Outcomes
After the lecture, you will know about
• Why interpolation is used.
• Interpolation in different curves.
What is Interpolation ?
Given (x0,y0), (x1,y1), …… (xn,yn), find the value of ‘y’ at a
value of ‘x’ that is not given.

Figure 1 Interpolation of discrete.

Interpolants
Polynomials are the most common choice
of interpolants because they are easy to:

Evaluate
Differentiate, and
Integrate
Direct Method

Given ‘n+1’ data points (x0,y0), (x1,y1),………….. (xn,yn),

pass a polynomial of order ‘n’ through the data as given
below:

y  a0  a1 x  ....................  an x n .

where a0, a1,………………. an are real constants.

• Set up ‘n+1’ equations to find ‘n+1’ constants.
• To find the value ‘y’ at a given value of ‘x’, simply substitute the
value of ‘x’ in the above polynomial.
Example 1 The upward velocity of a rocket is given as a function of time
in Table 1.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using the direct method for
linear interpolation.

Table 1 Velocity as a function of time.

t,  s v t  ,  m/s 
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67
Figure 2 Velocity vs. time data for the
rocket example
Linear Interpolation
v  t   a0  a1t y

v15  a 0  a1 15  362.78  x1 , y1 

v 20  a 0  a1  20   517.35  x0 , y0 
f1  x 

Solving the above two equations gives, x

Figure 3 Linear
a0  100.93 a1  30.914 interpolation.

Hence
v t   100.93  30.914t , 15  t  20.
v16  100.93  30.91416   393.7 m/s
Example 2 The upward velocity of a rocket is given as a function of time
in Table 1.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using the direct method for
quadratic interpolation.

Table 1 Velocity as a function of time.

t,  s v t  ,  m/s 
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67
Figure 2 Velocity vs. time data for the
rocket example
 Quadratic Interpolation
y

v t   a0  a1t  a2t 2  x1 , y1 

v10  a0  a1 10  a2 10  227.04

2  x2 , y 2 

v15  a0  a1 15  a2 15  362.78

2

f 2  x
v 20   a0  a1  20   a2  20   517.35
2
 x0 , y0 

Figure 6 Quadratic interpolation.

Solving the above three equations gives

a0  12.05 a1  17.733 a2  0.3766
 Quadratic Interpolation (con
t.) 517.35
550

v t   12.05  17.733t  0.3766t , 10  t  20

500
2
450

ys

v16   12.05  17.73316   0.376616

400
2 f ( range)


f x desired  350

 392.19 m/s 300

250

227.04 200
10 12 14 16 18 20
10 x s  range x desired 20

The absolute relative approximate error a obtained between the

results from the first and second order polynomial is
392.19  393.70
a   100
392.19
 0.38410%
Example 3 The upward velocity of a rocket is given as a function of time
in Table 1.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using the direct method for
cubic interpolation.

Table 1 Velocity as a function of time.

t,  s v t  ,  m/s 
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67
Figure 2 Velocity vs. time data for the
rocket example
Cubic Interpolation
y

 x3 , y3 
v t   a0  a1t  a2t 2  a3t 3
 x1 , y1 
v10   227.04  a0  a1 10   a2 10  a3 10
2 3

f3  x
 x2 , y2 
v15  362.78  a0  a1 15  a2 15  a3 15
2 3
 x0 , y0 

v 20   517.35  a0  a1  20   a2  20   a3  20
2 3 x

Figure 7 Cubic interpolation.

v 22.5  602.97  a0  a1  22.5  a2  22.5  a3  22.5
2 3

a0  4.2540 a1  21.266 a2  0.13204 a3  0.0054347

Cubic Interpolation (contd)
v t   4.2540  21.266t  0.13204t 2  0.0054347t 3 , 10  t  22.5
v 16  4.2540  21.26616   0.1320416   0.005434716 
2 3

 392.06 m/s
700
602.97

The absolute percentage relative

approximate error a between
600

ys

f ( range)
500
second and third order polynomial is

f x desired 
400

392.06  392.19
a  100
392.06
300

227.04 200
10
10
12 14 16 18
x s  range x desired
20 22 24
22.5
 0.033269%
Comparison Table
Table 4 Comparison of different orders of the polynomial.

Order of
t(s) v (m/s) 1 2 3
Polynomial
0 0
v t  16 m/s 393.7 392.19 392.06
10 227.04
15 362.78 Absolute Relative
---------- 0.38410 % 0.033269 %
Approximate Error
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67
Distance from Velocity Profile
Find the distance covered by the rocket from t=11s to t=16s ?
v t   4.3810  21.289t  0.13064t 2  0.0054606t 3 , 10  t  22.5
16
s 16   s11   v t  dt
11
16
 
   4.2540  21.266t  0.13204t 2  0.0054347t 3 dt
11
16
 t2 t3 t4 
  4.2540t  21.266  0.13204  0.0054347 
 2 3 4 11
 1605 m
Acceleration from Velocity Profile
Find the acceleration of the rocket at t=16s given that
  t   4.2540  21.266t  0.13204 2  0.0054347t 3 ,10  t  22.5
d
a t   v t 
dt

d
dt

 4.2540  21.266t  0.13204t 2  0.0054347t 3 
 21.289  0.26130t  0.016382t 2 , 10  t  22.5

a 16  21.266  0.2640816   0.01630416 

2

 29.665 m/s 2
Review Question
• The following data come from a table that was measured with high pr
ecision. Use the best numerical method (for this type of problem) to
determine y at x = 3.5. Note that a polynomial will yield an exact valu
e. Your solution should prove that your result is exact.

x 0 1.8 5 6 8.2 9.2

y 26 16.415 5.375 3.5 2.015 2.54

Thank you