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Bisection Method
Bisection Method
http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu
Transforming Numerical Methods Education for STEM
Undergraduates
9/26/2019 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(xl) f(xu) < 0.
f(x)
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
a 100
m m
new
xm
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 20.055
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.
f xl f xm f 0 f 0.055 3.993 10 4 6.655 10 5 0
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 x and 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.
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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 0.1650.06875 3.993 10 4 5.563 10 5
3 2
f xl f xm f 0.055 f 0.06875 6.655 10 5 5.563 10 5 0
Hence the root is bracketed between x and 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.
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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
m2
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
f x
f(x)
1
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.html
THE END
http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu