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Bisection Method
Bisection Method
http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu
Transforming Numerical Methods Education for STEM
Undergraduates
07/28/10 http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu 1
Bisection Method
http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu
Basis of Bisection Method
Theorem An equation f(x)=0, where f(x) is a real continuous
function, has at least one root between xl and xu if
f(x)
f(xl) f(xu) < 0.
x
x
xu
Figure 1 At least one root exists between the two points if the function is real,
continuous, and changes sign.
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Basis of Bisection Method
f(x)
x x
xu
x xu
x x
x xu
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Basis of Bisection Method
f(x)
xu
x
x
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Algorithm for Bisection Method
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Step 1
Choose x and xu as two guesses for the root such that
f(x) f(xu) < 0, or in other words, f(x) changes sign
between x and xu. This was demonstrated in Figure 1.
f(x)
x
x
xu
Figure 1
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Step 2
Estimate the root, xm of the equation f (x) = 0 as the mid
point between x and xu as
f(x)
x + xu
xm =
2
x xm
x
xu
Figure 5 Estimate of xm
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Step 3
Now check the following
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Step 4
Find the new estimate of the root
x + xu
xm =
2
Find the absolute relative approximate error
x new − x old
m
∈a = m
new
×100
x m
where
xmold = previous estimate of root
xmnew = current estimate of root
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Step 5
Compare the absolute relative approximate error ∈a with
the pre-specified error tolerance ∈s .
Go to Step 2 using new
Yes upper and lower
Is ∈a >∈s ? guesses.
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Example 1 Cont.
From the physics of the problem, the ball would be
submerged between x = 0 and x = 2R,
where R = radius of the ball,
that is
0 ≤ x ≤ 2R
0 ≤ x ≤ 2( 0.055)
0 ≤ x ≤ 0.11
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Example 1 Cont.
Solution
Hence
( )( )
f ( xl ) f ( xu ) = f ( 0 ) f ( 0.11) = 3.993 ×10 −4 − 2.662 ×10 −4 < 0
So there is at least on root between x and xu, that is between 0 and 0.11
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Example 1 Cont.
Hence the root is bracketed between xm and xu, that is, between 0.055
and 0.11. So, the lower and upper limits of the new bracket are
xl = 0.055, xu = 0.11
At this point, the absolute relative approximate error ∈a cannot be
calculated as we do not have a previous approximation.
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Example 1 Cont.
Hence the root is bracketed between xand xm, that is, between 0.055
and 0.0825. So, the lower and upper limits of the new bracket are
xl = 0.055, xu = 0.0825
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Example 1 Cont.
xmnew − xmold
∈a = new
×100
xm
0.0825 − 0.055
= × 100
0.0825
= 33.333%
None of the significant digits are at least correct in the estimate root of
xm = 0.0825 because the absolute relative approximate error is greater
than 5%.
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Example 1 Cont.
Iteration 3 x + xu 0.055 + 0.0825
The estimate of the root is xm = = = 0.06875
2 2
f ( xm ) = f ( 0.06875) = ( 0.06875) − 0.165( 0.06875) + 3.993 ×10 −4 = −5.563 ×10 −5
3 2
Hence the root is bracketed between xand xm, that is, between 0.055
and 0.06875. So, the lower and upper limits of the new bracket are
xl = 0.055, xu = 0.06875
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Example 1 Cont.
xmnew − xmold
∈a = new
×100
xm
0.06875 − 0.0825
= × 100
0.06875
= 20%
Still none of the significant digits are at least correct in the estimated
root of the equation as the absolute relative approximate error is greater
than 5%.
Seven more iterations were conducted and these iterations are shown in
Table 1.
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Table 1 Cont.
Table 1 Root of f(x)=0 as function of number of iterations for
bisection method.
Iteration x xu xm ∈a % f(xm)
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Table 1 Cont.
Hence the number of significant digits at least correct is given by the
largest value or m for which
∈a ≤ 0.5 ×10 2− m
0.1721 ≤ 0.5 ×10 2− m
0.3442 ≤ 10 2− m
log( 0.3442 ) ≤ 2 − m
m ≤ 2 − log( 0.3442) = 2.463
So
m=2
The number of significant digits at least correct in the estimated root
of 0.06241 at the end of the 10th iteration is 2.
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Advantages
Always convergent
The root bracket gets halved with each
iteration - guaranteed.
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Drawbacks
Slow convergence
If one of the initial guesses is close to
the root, the convergence is slower
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Drawbacks (continued)
If a function f(x) is such that it just
touches the x-axis it will be unable to find
the lower and upper guesses.
f(x)
f ( x) = x 2
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Drawbacks (continued)
Function changes sign but root does not exist
1
f(x)
f ( x) =
x
x
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Additional Resources
For all resources on this topic such as digital audiovisual
lectures, primers, textbook chapters, multiple-choice tests,
worksheets in MATLAB, MATHEMATICA, MathCad and
MAPLE, blogs, related physical problems, please visit
http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu/topics/bisection_method.htm
THE END
Major: All Engineering Majors