Algorithm for the bisection method:

 For any continuous function f(x), find a closed interval [a, b] such that f(a).f(b) < 0.
 Find the midpoint of a, b. Let x1 = (a + b)/2
 If f(x1) = 0, then x1 is the root.
 If f(x1) ≠ 0, then

 f(a).f(x1) < 0, root of f(x) lies in [a, x1], continue the above steps for interval [a, x1].
 f(x1).f(b) < 0, root of f(x) lies in [x1, b], continue the above steps for interval [x1, b].

Continue the process repeatedly until we find a point xo in [a, b] for which f(xo) = 0.

Bisection Method Questions with Solution

Follow the above algorithm of the bisection method to solve the following questions.

Question 1:

Find the root of the following polynomial function using the bisection method:

x3 – 4x – 9.

Solution:

Let f(x) = x3 – 4x – 9

f(2) = 8 – 8 – 9 = – 9

f(3) = 27 – 12 – 9 = 6

∴ the root lies in [2, 3]

First iteration:

x1 = (2 + 3)/2 = 2.5

Now, f(x1) = (2.5)3 – 4(2.5) – 9 = –3.375

Then, f(x1).f(3) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [2.5, 3]

Second iteration:
x2 = (2.5 + 3)/2 = 2.75

Now, f(x2) = (2.75)3 – 4(2.75) – 9 = 0.7969

Then, f(x1).f(x2) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [2.5, 2.75]

Third iteration:

x3 = (2.5 + 2.75)/2 = 2.625

Now, f(x3) = (2.625)3 – 4(2.625) – 9 = –1.4121

Then, f(x2).f(x3) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [2.75, 2.625]

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b C=(a+b)/2 ,xn f(a) f(b) f(c=xn)

1 2 3 2.5 –9 6 –3.375
2 2.5 3 2.75 –3.375 6 0.7969
3 2.5 2.75 2.625 –3.375 0.7969 –1.4121
4 2.625 2.75 2.6875 –1.4121 0.7969 –0.3391
5 2.6875 2.75 2.71875 –0.3391 0.7969 0.2209
6 2.6875 2.71875 2.703125 –0.3391 0.2209 –0.0615
7 2.71875 2.703125 2.7109 0.2209 –0.0615 0.0787
8 2.703125 2.7109 2.707 –0.0615 0.0787 0.00849
∴ the root of the function is 2.707.

Question 2:

Find the root of the following polynomial function using the bisection method:

x3 – 4.

Solution:
Let f(x) = x3 – 4

f(0) = 0 – 4 = –4

f(1) = 1 – 4 = –3

f(2) = 8 – 4 = 4

∴ the root lies in [1, 2]

First iteration:

x1 = (1 + 2)/2 = 1.5

Now, f(x1) = (1.5)3 – 4 = –0.625

Then, f(x1).f(2) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [1.5, 2]

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b xn f(a) f(b) f(xn)

1 1 2 1.5 –3 4 –0.625
2 1.5 2 1.75 –0.625 4 1.3593
3 1.5 1.75 1.625 –0.625 1.3593 0.2910
4 1.5 1.625 1.5625 –0.625 0.2910 –0.1853
5 1.5625 1.625 1.59375 –0.1853 0.2910 0.04818
∴ the root of the given function is 1.59375.

Question 3:

Find the root of the following polynomial function using the bisection method:

x3 – 3.

Solution:

Let f(x) = x3 – 3
f(0) = 0 – 3 = –3

f(1) = 1 – 3 = –2

f(2) = 8 – 3 = 5

∴ the root lies in [1, 2]

First iteration:

x1 = (1 + 2)/2 = 1.5

Now, f(x1) = (1.5)3 – 3 = 0.375

Then, f(1).f(x1) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [1, 1.5]

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b xn f(a) f(b) f(xn)

1 1 2 1.5 –3 5 0.375
2 1 1.5 1.75 –3 0.375 2.359
3 1 1.75 1.375 –3 2.359 –0.4004
4 1.375 1.75 1.5625 –0.4004 2.359 0.8146
5 1.375 1.5625 1.46875 –0.4004 0.8146 0.1684
6 1.375 1.46875 1.421875 –0.4004 0.1684 –0.1253
7 1.421875 1.46875 1.445 –0.1253 0.1684 0.0171
∴ the root of the given function is 1.445 (approx).

Question 4:

Find the root of the following polynomial function using the bisection method:

x2 – 5.

Solution:

Let f(x) = x2 – 5
f(0) = 0 – 5 = –5

f(1) = 1 – 5 = –4

f(2) = 4 – 5 = –1

f(3) = 9 – 5 = 4

∴ the root lies in [2, 3]

First iteration:

x1 = (2 + 3)/2 = 2.5

Now, f(x1) = (2.5)2 – 5 = 1.25

Then, f(2).f(x1) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [2, 2.5].

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b xn f(a) f(b) f(xn)

1 2 3 2.5 –1 4 1.25
2 2 2.5 2.25 –1 1.25 0.0625
∴ the root of the given function is 2.25 (approx).

Question 5:

Find the root of the following polynomial function using the bisection method:

x3 – 3x – 5.

Solution:

Let f(x) = x3 – 3x – 5

f(2) = 8 – 6 – 5 = –3

f(3) = 27 – 9 – 5 = 13
∴ the root lies in [2, 3]

First iteration:

x1 = (2 + 3)/2 = 2.5

Now, f(x1) = (2.5)3 – 7.5 – 5 = 3.125

Then, f(2).f(x1) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [2, 2.5]

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b xn f(a) f(b) f(xn)

1 2 3 2.5 –3 13 3.125
2 2 2.5 2.25 –3 3.125 –0.359
3 2.25 2.5 2.375 –0.359 3.125 1.2714
4 2.25 2.375 2.3125 –0.359 1.2714 0.4289
5 2.25 2.3125 2.2812 –0.359 0.4289 0.0281
6 2.25 2.2812 2.2656 –0.359 0.0281 –0.1676
7 2.2656 2.2812 2.2734 –0.1676 0.0281 –0.0704
8 2.2734 2.2812 2.2773 –0.0704 0.0281 –0.0216
9 2.2773 2.2812 2.2792 –0.0216 0.0281 0.0022
∴ the root of the given function is 2.2792 (approx).

Also Read:

 Fixed Point Iteration Method

 Newton Raphson Method
 False Position Method

Question 6:

Find √12.

Solution:

Let x = √12 ⇒ x2 – 12 = 0
f(3) = 9 – 12 = –3

f(4) = 16 – 12 = 4

∴ the root lies in [3, 4]

First iteration:

x1 = (3 + 4)/2 = 3.5

Now, f(x1) = (3.5)2 – 12 = 0.25

Then, f(3).f(x1) < 0

Thus, the root lies in [3, 3.5]

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b xn f(a) f(b) f(xn)

1 3 4 3.5 –3 4 0.25
2 3 3.5 3.25 –3 0.25 –1.4375
3 3.25 3.5 3.375 –1.4375 0.25 –0.6093
4 3.375 3.5 3.4375 –0.6093 0.25 –0.1835
5 3.4375 3.5 3.4688 –0.1835 0.25 0.0322
6 3.4375 3.4688 3.4531 –0.1835 0.0322 –0.0759
7 3.4531 3.4688 3.4609 –0.0759 0.0322 –0.0219
8 3.4609 3.4688 3.4648 –0.0219 0.0322 0.0051
9 3.4609 3.4648 3.4629 –0.0219 0.0051 –0.0084
10 3.4629 3.4648 3.4639 –0.0084 0.0051 –0.0016
11 3.4639 3.4648 3.4644 –0.0016 0.0051 0.0018
12 3.4639 3.4644 3.4641 –0.0016 0.0018 0.0001
∴ √12 = 3.4641 (approx).

Question 7:

Find the root of the following polynomial function using the bisection method:
x4 – 2

Solution:

Let f(x) = x4 – 2

f(1) = 1 – 2 = –1

f(2) = 16 – 2 = 14

∴ the root lies in [1, 2]

Hence, we can make the following iteration table:

Iterations (n) a b xn f(a) f(b) f(xn)

1 1 2 1.5 –1 14 3.0625
2 1 1.5 1.25 –1 3.0625 0.4414
3 1 1.25 1.375 –1 0.4414 1.5744
4 1 1.375 1.03125 –1 1.5744 –0.869
5 1.03125 1.375 1.203 –0.869 1.5744 0.0944
6 1.03125 1.203 1.1171 –0.869 0.0944 –0.44271
7 1.1171 1.203 1.16 –0.44271 0.0944 –0.1893
8 1.16 1.203 1.182 –0.1893 0.0944 –0.04804
9 1.182 1.203 1.193 –0.04804 0.0944 0.02564
10 1.182 1.193 1.1875 –0.04804 0.02564 –0.0114
11 1.1875 1.193 1.19 –0.0114 0.02564 0.00534
∴ the root of the given function is 1.19 (approx).

Question 8:

Find out after how many iterations the function x4 – x3– x2 – 4 in the interval [1, 9].

Solution:

Let f(x) = x4 – x3 – x2 – 4

f(1) = 1 – 1 – 1 – 4 = –5
f(9) = 6561 – 729 – 81 – 4 = 5747

First iteration:

x1 = (1 + 9)/2 = 5

f(x1) = 625 – 125 – 25 – 4 > 0

∴ the root lies between [1, 5]

Second iteration:

x2 = (1 + 5)/2 = 3

f(x1) = 81 – 27 – 9 – 4 > 0

∴ the root lies between [1, 3]

Third iteration:

x3 = (1 + 3)/2 = 2

f(x3) = 16 – 8 – 4 – 4 = 0

∴ x = 2 is the root of the function; hence, the iterations converges to the solution after 3
iterations.

Question 9:

For the given function f(x) = x3 – x – 1, a real root lies in between the interval [1,2]. Find
the minimum number of iterations required to find the root up to the accuracy of two
decimal points.

Solution:

Given,

f(x) = x3 – x2 – 1

Since we have to find the root up to accuracy level of 2 decimal points, we have:

Accuracy = ε = 0.01
Now, the accuracy of the bisection method:

�≥(�−�2�)
⇒0.01≥(2−12�)
⇒ 0.01 ≥ 2 –n

⇒ 2n ≥ 100

Now, 26 ≤ 100 ≤ 27

∴ minimum n = 7 iterations are required.

Question 10:

For the given function f(x) = x3 – 4x + 3, a real root lies in between the interval [–3 , –2].
Find the minimum number of iterations required to find the root up to the accuracy of
three decimal points.

Solution:

Given,

f(x) = x3 – 4x + 3

Since we have to find the root up to accuracy level of 2 decimal points, we have:

Accuracy = ε = 0.001

Now, the accuracy of the bisection method,

�≥(�−�2�)
⇒0.001≥(–2+32�)
⇒ 0.001 ≥ 2 –n

⇒ 2n ≥ 1000

Now, 29 ≤ 100 ≤ 210

∴ minimum n = 10 iterations are required.

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Practice Questions on Bisection Method

1. Solve the following using the bisection method:

(i) x2 – 2

(ii) x3 – 5

(iii) x3 – x – 1

(iv) 2x3 – 2x – 5

(v) x2 – 3

2. Find out after how many iterations the function 3x2 – 5x – 2 in the interval [0, 4].

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