Roots: Bracketing Methods

Ronald M. Pascual, Ph.D.

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Roots Problems in Engineering

Recall the bungee jumper model:

Where:
v = downward vertical velocity (m/s),
t = time (s),
g = the acceleration due to gravity (=9.81 m/s2),
cd = a lumped drag coefficient (kg/m),
m = the jumpers mass (kg)

Problem: Given all other variables and parameters,

how to solve for mass, m??
Fact: You cannot manipulate this equation to explicitly solve for m!

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Two Major Classes of RootFinding Methods

1.) Bracketing methods
based on two initial guesses that
bracket the root
2.) Open methods
can involve one or more initial guesses,
but there is no need for them to bracket the
root
FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Incremental Search

Value of m that
makes the
function equal to
zero?

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Incremental Search
Illustration of a number of
general ways that a root may
occur in an interval prescribed
by a lower bound xl and
an upper bound xu . Parts (a)
and (c) indicate that if both
f (xl ) and f (xu) have the
same sign, either there will
be no roots or there will be an
even number of roots
within the interval. Parts (b)
and (d) indicate that if the
function has different signs at
the end points, there will
be an odd number of roots in
the interval.

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Incremental Search
In general, if f (x) is real and continuous in the
interval from xl to xu and f (xl ) and f (xu) have
opposite signs, that is,

f (xl ) f (xu) < 0

then there is at least one real root between xl and
xu.

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Bisection Method
Incremental search method in which the interval
is always divided in half. That is,
xr = (xl + xu) / 2
If a function changes sign over an interval, the
function value at the midpoint is evaluated
The location of the root is then determined as
lying within the subinterval where the sign
change occurs
The process is repeated until the root is known
to the required precision.
FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Bisection Method

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Problem
Use bisection method to solve for mass, m, in the
bungee jumper mathematical model. Assume
v=36, t=4, g=9.81 and cd=0.25. Use initial
guesses of xl=50 and xu=200. Tabulate the
values for xl, xu, xr, and the approximate percent
relative error for each iteration. Note also the
signs of f(xl), f(xu) and f(xr). Use a stopping
criterion of s = 0.5%.

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

Solution

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

10

FALSE POSITION
(also called the linear interpolation
method)
locates the root by joining f(xl ) and f(xu)
with a line
The intersection of this line with the x-axis
represents an improved estimate of the
root

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

11

FALSE POSITION

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

12

Problem
Use false position method to solve the
same (previous) problem approached with
bisection method.

Parameters: v=36, t=4, g=9.81, c d=0.25.

Initial guesses: xl=50 and xu=200
Stopping criterion: s = 0.5%.
FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

13

Solution
xl
50.0000

xu
200.0000

xr
176.2773

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

|Ea|%

14

Solution
xl
50.0000
50.0000

xu
200.0000
176.2773

xr
176.2773
162.3828

|Ea|%
8.5566

|Ea|% = |(162.3828-176.2773)/162.3828| x 100% = 8.5566%

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

15

Solution
xl
50.0000
50.0000
50.0000
50.0000
50.0000
50.0000
50.0000
50.0000

xu
200.0000
176.2773
162.3828
154.2446
149.4777
146.6856
145.0501
144.0922

xr
176.2773
162.3828
154.2446
149.4777
146.6856
145.0501
144.0922
143.5311

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

|Ea|%
8.5566
5.2762
3.1890
1.9035
1.1275
0.6648
0.3909

16

References
Applied Numerical Methods w/MATLAB
for Engineers & Scientist (3rd Edition).
Chapra. 2012.
Numerical Methods for Engineers (6th
Edition). Chapra and Canale. 2010.

FEU Institute of Technology

Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

17