Numerical Methods 300 MCQs
Numerical Methods 300 MCQs
Math-01802
Total Questions: 300 Credit Hours: 03 4 Options (A/B/C/D) Answer Key: Last Page
Q1. Which formula uses function values at x and x+h to approximate the first derivative?
(A) Central difference
(B) Backward difference
(C) Forward difference
(D) Divided difference
Q2. The forward difference formula f'(x) ≈ [f(x+h) - f(x)]/h has a truncation error of order:
(A) O(h²)
(B) O(h)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(1/h)
Q4. The truncation error of the central difference formula for f'(x) is of order:
(A) O(h)
(B) O(h²)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h■)
Q5. Newton's forward interpolation formula is used when interpolating near the:
(A) End of the table
(B) Middle of the table
(C) Beginning of the table
(D) Any point in the table
Q6. Newton's backward interpolation formula is used when interpolating near the:
(A) Beginning of the table
(B) End of the table
(C) Middle of the table
(D) Any equally spaced point
Q15. The error term in Lagrange interpolation of degree n involves the (n+1)th derivative and is of order:
(A) O(h^n)
(B) O(h^(n+1))
(C) O(h^(n+2))
(D) O(h^(n-1))
Q17. The second derivative f''(x) using central differences is approximated by:
(A) [f(x+h) - 2f(x) + f(x-h)]/h
(B) [f(x+h) - 2f(x) + f(x-h)]/h²
(C) [f(x+h) + 2f(x) + f(x-h)]/h²
(D) [f(x+h) - f(x-h)]/(2h²)
Q19. If D(h) = f'(x) + c■h² + c■h■ + ..., then Richardson extrapolation gives a formula of order:
(A) O(h²)
(B) O(h³)
(C) O(h■)
(D) O(h■)
Q23. For equally spaced data with step h, the derivative using Newton's backward formula at x = x_n is
based on:
(A) Forward differences at x_n
(B) Backward differences at x_n
(C) Central differences at x_n
(D) Divided differences
Q24. Given f(0)=1, f(1)=2, f(2)=5, the second divided difference f[0,1,2] is:
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
Q26. The backward difference formula f'(x) ≈ [f(x) - f(x-h)]/h has truncation error:
(A) O(h²)
(B) O(h)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h■)
Q27. Which differentiation formula is most accurate for the same step size h?
(A) Forward difference (1st order)
(B) Backward difference (1st order)
(C) Central difference (2nd order)
(D) All have equal accuracy
Q29. If f(x) = sin(x) and h = 0.1, using central difference to estimate f'(0), the result is approximately:
Q30. The Lagrange interpolating polynomial for points (0,1), (1,3), (2,7) has degree:
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
Q31. Newton's divided difference interpolation reduces to Newton's forward formula when:
(A) Points are randomly spaced
(B) Points are equally spaced
(C) Points are at integers only
(D) Only two points are used
Q32. The condition for uniqueness of the interpolating polynomial of degree ≤ n through n+1 points is:
(A) Points must be equally spaced
(B) All x_i must be distinct
(C) f values must be positive
(D) h must be less than 1
Q34. For Richardson extrapolation on first derivative with step h and h/2, the improved formula is:
(A) [4D(h/2) - D(h)]/3
(B) [D(h/2) + D(h)]/2
(C) [D(h/2) - D(h)]
(D) [2D(h/2) + D(h)]/3
Q36. Newton's forward difference formula for differentiation at x = x_0 + ph gives f'(x_0) in terms of:
(A) ∇f at x_n
(B) ∆f at x_0
(C) δf at midpoints
(D) f[x_i, x_j]
Q44. A 5-point formula for f'(x) using central differences has truncation error of order:
(A) O(h²)
(B) O(h³)
(C) O(h■)
(D) O(h■)
Q46. Which of the following interpolation methods does NOT require equally spaced data?
(A) Newton's forward formula
(B) Newton's backward formula
(C) Lagrange interpolation
(D) Stirling's formula
Q47. The forward difference table for f(x) = 2x has all second differences equal to:
(A) 2
(B) 1
(C) 0
(D) 4
Q48. For cubic spline interpolation, which condition ensures a unique solution?
(A) Natural boundary conditions
(B) Periodic conditions only
Q49. In Richardson extrapolation, combining D(h) and D(h/2) eliminates the error term of order:
(A) O(h■)
(B) O(h²)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h)
Q54. Newton's general interpolation formula using divided differences is also known as:
(A) Gregory-Newton formula
(B) Gauss forward formula
(C) Newton-Gregory forward formula
(D) Newton's divided difference interpolation
Q55. If all nth forward differences of a polynomial are constant and nonzero, the polynomial has degree:
(A) n-1
(B) n
(C) n+1
(D) 2n
Q56. For f(x) = e^x, h = 0.5, the forward difference approximation of f'(0) gives approximately:
(A) 0.6487
(B) 1.2974
(C) 1.0000
(D) 0.5000
Q57. Which error is associated with replacing an exact derivative by a finite difference quotient?
(A) Round-off error
(B) Truncation error
(C) Absolute error
(D) Relative error
Q59. The optimal step size h that minimizes total error in numerical differentiation balances:
(A) Truncation error and interpolation error
(B) Round-off error and truncation error
(C) Absolute error and relative error
(D) Forward and backward errors
Q61. The trapezoidal rule approximates the integral by replacing the integrand with a:
(A) Quadratic polynomial
(B) Cubic polynomial
(C) Linear polynomial (trapezoid)
(D) Constant function
Q62. The trapezoidal rule formula for ∫[a,b] f(x)dx with step h = b-a is:
(A) h[f(a) + f(b)]
(B) h[f(a) + f(b)]/2
(C) h[f(a) - f(b)]/2
(D) h[f(a) + 2f(b)]/2
Q64. Simpson's 1/3 rule uses a __________ polynomial to approximate the integrand.
(A) Linear
(B) Quadratic
(C) Cubic
(D) Quartic
Q65. Simpson's 1/3 rule formula for ∫[a,b] f(x)dx with h = (b-a)/2 is:
(A) h[f(a) + f(b)]/2
(B) h[f(a) + 4f((a+b)/2) + f(b)]/3
(C) h[f(a) + 4f((a+b)/2) + f(b)]/6
(D) h[f(a) + 2f((a+b)/2) + f(b)]/3
Q67. Simpson's 3/8 rule requires the interval to be divided into multiples of:
(A) 2 subintervals
(B) 3 subintervals
(C) 4 subintervals
(D) 5 subintervals
Q71. The composite trapezoidal rule with n subintervals has error of order:
(A) O(h)
(B) O(h²)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h■)
Q72. Romberg integration combines repeated applications of the trapezoidal rule using:
(A) Simpson's rule
(B) Gaussian quadrature
(C) Richardson extrapolation
(D) Newton-Cotes formulas
Q74. The Romberg table entry R(n,m) is computed from R(n,m-1) and R(n-1,m-1) by:
(A) R(n,m) = [4^m R(n,m-1) - R(n-1,m-1)]/(4^m - 1)
(B) R(n,m) = [R(n,m-1) + R(n-1,m-1)]/2
(C) R(n,m) = R(n,m-1) - R(n-1,m-1)
(D) R(n,m) = R(n,m-1) × R(n-1,m-1)
Q75. Gaussian quadrature with n points integrates polynomials of degree up to ______ exactly:
(A) n
(B) n-1
(C) 2n-1
(D) 2n
Q79. Which of the following methods has the highest accuracy for the same number of function
evaluations?
(A) Trapezoidal rule
(B) Simpson's rule
(C) Gaussian quadrature
Q80. The error formula for the composite Simpson's 1/3 rule with n subintervals is proportional to:
(A) h²
(B) h³
(C) h■
(D) h■
Q84. To apply the composite Simpson's rule, the number of subintervals n must be:
(A) Odd
(B) Even
(C) A multiple of 3
(D) A power of 2
Q85. Using the trapezoidal rule to evaluate ∫■¹ x dx with h = 0.5, the result is:
(A) 0.25
(B) 0.5
(C) 0.75
(D) 1.0
Q90. Using Simpson's 1/3 rule to evaluate ∫■² x² dx with h = 1, the result is:
(A) 2.333
(B) 2.667
(C) 3.000
(D) 2.000
Q91. The error bound for the trapezoidal rule over [a,b] with n subintervals is:
(A) (b-a)h²|f''(ξ)|/12
(B) (b-a)h|f'(ξ)|/2
(C) (b-a)h■|f■(ξ)|/180
(D) (b-a)h³|f'''(ξ)|/12
Q92. The error bound for composite Simpson's rule is proportional to:
(A) h²
(B) h■
(C) h■
(D) h³
Q94. The composite midpoint rule with n subintervals has error of order:
(A) O(h)
(B) O(h²)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h■)
Q98. In Romberg integration, R(1,1) is the result of applying Richardson extrapolation to R(1,0) and
R(0,0), giving accuracy of order:
(A) O(h²)
(B) O(h³)
(C) O(h■)
(D) O(h■)
Q101. To halve the error in the composite trapezoidal rule, the step size h should be:
(A) Halved
(B) Quartered
(C) Doubled
(D) Unchanged
Q102. To halve the error in the composite Simpson's rule, the step size h should be:
(A) Halved
(B) Reduced to h/2^(1/4)
(C) Quartered
(D) Reduced to h/√2
Q103. The 4-point Newton-Cotes formula (Boole's rule) has error of order:
(A) O(h■)
(B) O(h■)
(C) O(h■)
(D) O(h■)
Q104. Which integration method is derived from the trapezoidal rule by repeated halving and
Richardson extrapolation?
(A) Simpson's rule
(B) Gaussian quadrature
(C) Romberg integration
(D) Adaptive quadrature
Q105. The composite trapezoidal rule with n=4 applied to ∫■¹ dx uses h =
(A) 0.5
(B) 0.25
(C) 0.125
(D) 0.1
Q106. Which numerical integration formula integrates odd functions exactly over [-a, a]?
(A) Trapezoidal rule
(B) Gaussian quadrature (symmetric nodes)
(C) Midpoint rule
(D) Both B and C
Q107. The weights in the trapezoidal rule for the composite formula (n subintervals) are:
(A) All equal to h
(B) h for endpoints, 2h for interior
(C) h/2 for endpoints, h for interior
(D) h for all points
Q109. In composite Simpson's rule with n=4, h=0.25, how many function evaluations are needed?
(A) 3
(B) 4
(C) 5
(D) 6
Q111. For ∫■¹ e^x dx using the 2-point Gauss-Legendre rule, the approximate value is closest to:
(A) 1.7183
(B) 1.7182
(C) 1.7184
(D) 1.7180
Q113. The composite Simpson's rule weights for n=4 subintervals follow the pattern:
(A) 1,1,1,1,1
(B) 1,2,1
(C) 1,4,2,4,1
(D) 1,2,2,2,1
Q114. For ∫■¹ x³ dx, which rule gives the exact answer with just 3 points?
(A) Trapezoidal rule
(B) Simpson's 1/3 rule
(C) Midpoint rule
(D) Trapezoidal with Richardson
Q120. Which integration formula has coefficients with negative values for higher-degree Newton-Cotes
rules?
(A) Trapezoidal
(B) Simpson's 1/3
(C) Simpson's 3/8
(D) Newton-Cotes for n ≥ 8
Q125. For the difference equation y(n+1) - 2y(n) = 0, the general solution is:
(A) y(n) = C·2^n
(B) y(n) = C·n
(C) y(n) = C·(-2)^n
(D) y(n) = 2C
Q128. For the difference equation y(n+2) - 5y(n+1) + 6y(n) = 0 with roots 2 and 3, the general solution is:
(A) y(n) = C■·2^n + C■·3^n
(B) y(n) = C■·2n + C■·3n
(C) y(n) = (C■ + C■n)·2^n
(D) y(n) = C■·2^n - C■·3^n
Q129. When the characteristic equation has a repeated root r of multiplicity 2, the general solution
includes:
(A) C·r^n
(B) (C■ + C■n)·r^n
(C) C■·r^n + C■·r^(n+1)
(D) (C■ + C■/n)·r^n
Q131. For y(n+1) - 3y(n) = 5·3^n, the form of particular solution to try is:
(A) y_p = A·3^n
(B) y_p = An·3^n
(C) y_p = A·n
(D) y_p = A·5^n
Q133. The method of undetermined coefficients for difference equations applies when the right-hand
side is:
(A) Any function
(B) A polynomial, exponential, or their products
(C) A trigonometric function only
(D) A rational function
Q134. A first-order linear difference equation y(n+1) = ay(n) + b has general solution:
(A) y(n) = Ca^n + b/(1-a), a≠1
(B) y(n) = Ca^n + b
(C) y(n) = Ca + bn
(D) y(n) = C + bn
Q136. The characteristic roots of the Fibonacci equation y(n) = y(n-1) + y(n-2) are:
(A) (1±√5)/2
(B) (1±√3)/2
(C) (1±√2)/2
(D) (±√5)/2
Q138. For stability of a difference equation, all characteristic roots must satisfy:
(A) |r| > 1
(B) |r| < 1
(C) |r| = 1
(D) |r| ≥ 1
Q141. For the equation y(n+2) - 4y(n) = 0, the characteristic roots are:
(A) 2, -2
(B) 4, 0
(C) 2, 2
(D) √2, -√2
Q143. The Z-transform is to difference equations what the ________ is to differential equations.
(A) Fourier transform
(B) Laplace transform
(C) Taylor series
(D) Wavelet transform
Q146. The general solution of the homogeneous equation y(n+2) + y(n) = 0 is:
(A) y(n) = C■cos(nπ/2) + C■sin(nπ/2)
(B) y(n) = C■·1^n + C■·(-1)^n
(C) y(n) = C■ + C■n
(D) y(n) = C·i^n
Q149. If y_h is the homogeneous solution and y_p is a particular solution, the general solution is:
Q151. For the equation y(n) - 5y(n-1) + 6y(n-2) = 0, the solution as n→∞ is dominated by:
(A) 2^n
(B) 3^n
(C) Equal contributions of both
(D) Decays to zero
Q152. A non-homogeneous difference equation with forcing function f(n) = constant c has particular
solution y_p = c/(1-a) if:
(A) a = 0
(B) a ≠ 1
(C) a = 1
(D) a > 1
Q155. For the equation y(n+2) - 2y(n+1) + y(n) = 0, the characteristic root r = 1 has multiplicity:
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 0
Q158. The equation y(n+1)/y(n) = 2 describes a sequence where each term is:
(A) Increased by 2
(B) Doubled
(C) Squared
Q161. For a 2×2 system of difference equations, the solution requires finding eigenvalues of the:
(A) Coefficient matrix
(B) Jacobian matrix
(C) Hessian matrix
(D) Identity matrix
Q162. A difference equation approximation of dy/dx = f(x,y) at discrete points x_n = x_0 + nh is:
(A) y(n+1) - y(n) = 0
(B) [y(n+1) - y(n)]/h = f(x_n, y(n))
(C) y(n) = f(x_n)
(D) y(n+1) = y(n) - h·f(x_n,y(n))
Q165. For the non-homogeneous equation y(n+1) - 2y(n) = 3n, the particular solution has the form:
(A) y_p = An + B
(B) y_p = An²
(C) y_p = An
(D) y_p = A·3^n
Q167. A first-order difference equation with one initial condition y(0) = y■ has:
(A) No solution
(B) Infinitely many solutions
(C) A unique solution
(D) Two solutions
Q168. The difference equation modelling compound interest A(n+1) = (1+r)A(n) has solution:
(A) A(n) = A(0) + rn
Q169. The particular solution for y(n+1) - 3y(n) = 2·3^n is found using a trial solution:
(A) y_p = A·3^n
(B) y_p = An·3^n
(C) y_p = A·2^n
(D) y_p = A·n
Q170. For the system [x(n+1), y(n+1)] = A[x(n), y(n)], stability depends on eigenvalues of A satisfying:
(A) |λ| > 1 for all eigenvalues
(B) |λ| < 1 for all eigenvalues
(C) |λ| = 1 for all eigenvalues
(D) λ > 0 for all eigenvalues
Q174. A non-linear difference equation z(n+1) = [z(n)]² can be linearized using substitution:
(A) y(n) = 1/z(n)
(B) y(n) = log z(n)
(C) y(n) = z(n) + 1
(D) y(n) = z(n) - 1
Q175. A difference equation of order k requires ________ initial conditions for a unique solution.
(A) k-1
(B) k
(C) k+1
(D) 2k
Q176. The general term of arithmetic progression a, a+d, a+2d,... satisfies the difference equation:
(A) y(n+1) - y(n) = d
(B) y(n+1) - y(n) = 0
(C) y(n+1) = d·y(n)
(D) y(n+1) = y(n) + n
Q177. For the equation y(n) = A·2^n + B·(-1)^n, two independent solutions are:
(A) 2^n and 1
(B) 2^n and (-1)^n
(C) n·2^n and (-1)^n
(D) 2^n and n
Q179. The general solution for complex roots 2i and -2i is:
(A) y(n) = C■·(2i)^n + C■·(-2i)^n
(B) y(n) = 2^n [C■cos(nπ/2) + C■sin(nπ/2)]
(C) y(n) = C■cos(2n) + C■sin(2n)
(D) y(n) = C■·2^n + C■·(-2)^n
Q181. The Taylor series method for y' = f(x,y), y(x_0) = y_0 approximates y(x_0+h) using:
(A) Only f(x_0, y_0)
(B) f and its derivatives evaluated at (x_0, y_0)
(C) The trapezoidal rule
(D) Euler's method twice
Q186. In Heun's method, the predictor step uses ________ and the corrector uses ________.
(A) Backward Euler; forward Euler
(B) Euler's method; the average of slopes at two endpoints
(C) Midpoint rule; trapezoidal rule
(D) RK2; RK4
Q188. The RK4 update formula is y_{n+1} = y_n + (h/6)(k■ + 2k■ + 2k■ + k■) where k■ is:
(A) f(x_n + h, y_n + hk■)
(B) f(x_n, y_n)
(C) f(x_n + h/2, y_n + hk■/2)
(D) f(x_n + h/2, y_n + hk■/2)
Q198. Using Euler's method for y' = y, y(0) = 1 with h = 0.1, y(0.1) ≈
(A) 1.1
(B) 1.01
(C) 1.105
(D) 1.2
Q204. The stability region of RK4 is ________ than that of Euler's method.
(A) Smaller
(B) Larger
(C) The same
(D) Depends on the problem
Q205. For y'' = f(x, y, y'), the system can be converted to a first-order system by substituting:
(A) u = y, v = y'
(B) u = y', v = y''
(C) u = y + y'
(D) u = y/y'
Q208. Global truncation error after n steps with step size h is typically:
(A) n × (local truncation error)
(B) (local truncation error)/n
(C) O(h) if local error is O(h²)
(D) O(h²) if local error is O(h³)
Q210. A consistent numerical method for ODEs has local truncation error that:
(A) Grows with n
(B) Approaches zero as h→0
(C) Remains constant
(D) Is always O(h■)
Q212. The Dahlquist equivalence theorem states that a method is convergent if and only if it is:
(A) Consistent
(B) Stable
(C) Both consistent and zero-stable
(D) Explicit
Q213. Using RK4 with h = 0.1 for y' = y, y(0) = 1, the value y(0.1) ≈
(A) 1.10517
(B) 1.10000
(C) 1.10500
(D) 1.11000
Q214. The 4th-order Taylor method requires computing up to the ________ derivative of f.
(A) 2nd
(B) 3rd
(C) 4th
(D) 5th
Q216. In predictor-corrector methods, how many times is the corrector typically applied?
(A) Once (PECE mode)
(B) Twice
(C) Until convergence
(D) n times for n steps
Q217. The 2nd-order Runge-Kutta method with parameter α = 1 gives Heun's method, with α = 1/2 gives:
(A) Euler's method
(B) Midpoint method
(C) RK4
(D) Backward Euler
Q218. For the system y' = Ay where A has eigenvalues λ_i, RK4 stability requires:
(A) Re(λ_i) < 0 only
(B) All hλ_i lie in the stability region of RK4
(C) h < 1/max|λ_i|
(D) h > max|λ_i|
Q220. The local error estimate in adaptive step size control for ODE solvers is usually obtained by:
(A) Comparing solutions from two different order methods
(B) Using the exact solution
(C) Differentiating the numerical solution
(D) Applying Richardson extrapolation to differentiation
Q222. The Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method (RKF45) uses ________ function evaluations per step.
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 8
Q223. For a 2nd-order ODE y'' + p(x)y' + q(x)y = r(x), to convert to first-order system, we need:
(A) 1 new variable
(B) 2 new variables
(C) 3 new variables
(D) No new variables
Q224. The leapfrog (midpoint) method y_{n+1} = y_{n-1} + 2h·f(x_n, y_n) is:
(A) A 1-step method
(B) A 2-step explicit method
(C) An implicit method
(D) A predictor-corrector method
Q225. A numerical method has order p if its global error behaves as:
(A) O(h^(p-1))
(B) O(h^p)
(C) O(h^(p+1))
(D) O(1/h^p)
Q226. The trapezoidal method (Crank-Nicolson for ODEs) y_{n+1} = y_n + h[f_n + f_{n+1}]/2 is:
(A) First-order explicit
(B) Second-order implicit
(C) Fourth-order explicit
(D) First-order implicit
Q227. The difference between predictor and corrector values gives an estimate of:
(A) The exact error
(B) The local truncation error
(C) The global error
(D) The stability
Q228. For y' = f(x,y) solved by Euler's method, if h is halved, the global error is approximately:
(A) Doubled
(B) Halved
(C) Quartered
(D) Unchanged
Q232. Absolute stability region of a numerical method is the set of hλ values for which:
(A) The method is convergent
(B) The numerical solution does not grow unboundedly
(C) The truncation error is zero
(D) The method is consistent
Q235. The Adams-Bashforth 4-step method formula involves function values at:
(A) x_n only
(B) x_n, x_{n-1}
(C) x_n, x_{n-1}, x_{n-2}, x_{n-3}
(D) x_{n+1}, x_n, x_{n-1}
Q236. The characteristic polynomial of a multistep method must satisfy the root condition for:
(A) High accuracy
(B) Zero stability
(C) Absolute stability
(D) Consistency
Q237. The 2nd-order Taylor method for y' = xy, y(0)=1 requires computing y'' = :
(A) y
(B) y + xy'
(C) xy' + y = xy·x + y = x²y + y
(D) xy
Q239. Which starting method is commonly used to provide the required initial values for a multistep
method?
(A) Euler's method
(B) Runge-Kutta method
(C) Taylor series method
(D) All of the above
Q241. A boundary value problem (BVP) for a 2nd-order ODE specifies conditions at:
(A) Only the initial point
(B) Two different points (endpoints of the interval)
(C) Three points
(D) Any interior point
Q244. The simple shooting method requires solving a ________ equation to find the missing initial
condition.
(A) Algebraic
(B) Differential
(C) Integral
(D) Partial
Q245. For BVP y'' = f(x,y,y'), y(a) = α, y(b) = β, if we guess y'(a) = s, we need to find s such that:
(A) y(a,s) = α
(B) y(b,s) = β
(C) y'(b,s) = 0
(D) y(a,s) = 0
Q247. Multiple shooting method divides the interval [a,b] into subintervals to:
(A) Reduce the order of the ODE
(B) Improve stability and handle long intervals
(C) Avoid solving IVPs
(D) Apply finite differences
Q249. The finite difference approximation of y''(x) using central differences is:
(A) [y(x+h) - y(x-h)]/(2h)
(B) [y(x+h) - 2y(x) + y(x-h)]/h²
(C) [y(x+h) + y(x-h)]/h²
(D) [y(x+h) - y(x-h)]/h²
Q251. The finite difference system for a BVP with n interior points results in a ________ system.
(A) n×n tridiagonal
(B) n×n full matrix
(C) (n+2)×(n+2) diagonal
(D) n×(n+2) rectangular
Q252. The explicit finite difference method for the heat equation u_t = c²u_xx uses:
(A) Future time levels only
(B) Current time level to compute next time level directly
(C) Implicit equations at each time step
(D) Crank-Nicolson averaging
Q253. The explicit (Forward Euler in time) finite difference scheme for heat equation is stable when:
(A) r = c²k/h² ≤ 1/2
(B) r = c²k/h² ≤ 1
(C) r = c²k/h² > 1
(D) Any r > 0
Q254. The stability parameter r = α∆t/∆x² for the heat equation must satisfy r ≤ 1/2 for:
(A) Implicit scheme
(B) Crank-Nicolson scheme
(C) Explicit scheme
(D) All schemes
Q255. The implicit finite difference method for the heat equation requires solving at each time step:
(A) An explicit formula
(B) A tridiagonal system
(C) A full matrix system
(D) A single equation
Q257. The Crank-Nicolson method averages the ________ at time levels n and n+1.
(A) Initial conditions
(B) Spatial difference operator
(C) Boundary conditions
(D) Time derivatives
Q259. Von Neumann stability analysis examines how ________ errors are amplified.
(A) Truncation
(B) Boundary
(C) Fourier mode (oscillatory)
Q260. For the wave equation u_tt = c²u_xx, the explicit scheme is stable when:
(A) c∆t/∆x ≤ 1 (CFL condition)
(B) c∆t/∆x ≥ 1
(C) ∆t < ∆x
(D) c < 1
Q262. For the BVP -y'' = f(x), y(0)=0, y(1)=0, the finite difference matrix is:
(A) A diagonal matrix
(B) A tridiagonal matrix with -2 on diagonal and 1 on off-diagonals
(C) An upper triangular matrix
(D) An identity matrix
Q263. The finite difference method converges to the exact solution as:
(A) h → ∞
(B) h → 0
(C) n → 0
(D) The boundary conditions change
Q264. The local truncation error of the central difference approximation for y'' is:
(A) O(h)
(B) O(h²)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h■)
Q265. A BVP has a unique solution if the Green's function exists, which requires:
(A) f(x) = 0
(B) The homogeneous problem has only the trivial solution
(C) The boundary conditions are periodic
(D) The interval is short
Q266. For nonlinear BVPs, the shooting method requires ________ to solve the resulting equation.
(A) Direct methods
(B) Root-finding methods (e.g., Newton's, secant)
(C) Analytical methods
(D) Eigenvalue methods
Q267. The finite element method differs from finite differences in that it:
(A) Uses difference quotients
(B) Uses weighted residuals and basis functions
(C) Only applies to linear problems
(D) Requires uniform grids
Q268. The backward difference in time (backward Euler) applied to the heat equation produces the:
(A) Explicit scheme
(B) Fully implicit scheme
(C) Crank-Nicolson scheme
(D) Leapfrog scheme
Q269. For the explicit heat equation scheme, the number of time steps needed to advance to time T with
step k is:
Q270. Thomas algorithm (LU for tridiagonal) solves a tridiagonal system of n equations in ________
operations.
(A) O(n³)
(B) O(n²)
(C) O(n log n)
(D) O(n)
Q273. For the Laplace equation on a 2D grid, the standard 5-point stencil gives:
(A) u_ij = (u_{i+1,j} + u_{i-1,j} + u_{i,j+1} + u_{i,j-1})/4
(B) u_ij = (u_{i+1,j} + u_{i-1,j})/2
(C) u_ij = u_{i+1,j} + u_{i-1,j} + u_{i,j+1} + u_{i,j-1}
(D) u_ij = u_{i+1,j} - u_{i-1,j}
Q274. In the simple shooting method for a linear BVP, only ________ IVP solutions are needed.
(A) One
(B) Two
(C) Three
(D) Four
Q275. For linear BVP y'' + p(x)y' + q(x)y = r(x), the shooting method solves two IVPs: one for ________
and one for ________
(A) y1 (homogeneous); y2 (particular)
(B) y(a); y(b)
(C) y'; y''
(D) p(x); q(x)
Q276. The consistency condition for finite difference schemes means the truncation error goes to:
(A) Infinity as h → 0
(B) Zero as h → 0
(C) A constant as h → 0
(D) The exact solution as h → 0
Q277. The Lax equivalence theorem states: for a well-posed linear PDE problem, consistency + stability
■
(A) Accuracy
(B) Convergence
(C) Efficiency
(D) Uniqueness
Q278. For the explicit heat equation with ∆x = 0.1 and α = 1, the maximum stable ∆t is:
(A) 0.01
Q280. The local truncation error (LTE) of a finite difference scheme is the residual obtained by:
(A) Substituting the exact solution into the scheme
(B) Substituting the numerical solution
(C) Taking the limit h → 0
(D) Differentiating the scheme
Q281. The second-order finite difference scheme for y' using central differences on a non-uniform grid
requires:
(A) Adjusting for different h values on left and right
(B) Uniform step size
(C) More grid points
(D) A higher-order scheme
Q282. The heat equation u_t = u_xx has exact solution u(x,t) = e^(-π²t)sin(πx). The explicit scheme with
r=1/2 and ∆x=0.1 gives errors of order:
(A) O(∆x)
(B) O(∆x² + ∆t)
(C) O(∆x² + ∆t²)
(D) O(∆t²)
Q284. The order of the finite difference scheme for the BVP -y'' = f using central differences is:
(A) O(h)
(B) O(h²)
(C) O(h³)
(D) O(h■)
Q285. For the Poisson equation -∇²u = f on [0,1]×[0,1] with uniform grid (M+1)×(N+1) interior points, the
system matrix has size:
(A) M×N
(B) MN×MN
(C) (M+2)×(N+2)
(D) M²×N²
Q287. Finite difference methods for BVPs converge at rate O(h^p) where p is determined by:
(A) The order of the ODE
(B) The order of consistency of the finite difference approximations used
Q288. The implicit scheme for the wave equation using central differences in both space and time is
stable when:
(A) CFL number c·∆t/∆x ≤ 1
(B) For all ∆t, ∆x > 0
(C) Only when ∆t = ∆x
(D) CFL number ≥ 1
Q289. In the finite difference method, increasing the number of grid points (decreasing h) generally:
(A) Increases the error
(B) Decreases the accuracy
(C) Increases accuracy but also computational cost
(D) Has no effect on accuracy
Q290. For a 2nd-order BVP with n interior grid points, the finite difference approach leads to a system
of:
(A) n/2 equations
(B) n equations
(C) 2n equations
(D) n² equations
Q291. Which of the following is an unconditionally stable scheme for the heat equation?
(A) Explicit (Forward Euler)
(B) DuFort-Frankel
(C) Crank-Nicolson
(D) Leapfrog
Q292. The D'Yakonov (ADI) method for 2D heat equation splits the time step into:
(A) Two 1D implicit problems
(B) Four 1D explicit problems
(C) One 2D implicit problem
(D) Two 2D explicit problems
Q293. For the BVP y'' = 6x, y(0) = 0, y(1) = 1, the exact solution is y = x³. A 2nd-order FD scheme with h =
0.5 gives error of order:
(A) O(h) = O(0.5)
(B) O(h²) = O(0.25)
(C) O(h■) = O(0.0625)
(D) Zero (exact)
Q294. The stability of the explicit heat scheme is best described as:
(A) Unconditionally stable
(B) Conditionally stable
(C) Unconditionally unstable
(D) Asymptotically stable
Q295. In the simple shooting method for a nonlinear BVP, Newton's method iteration for the slope s
gives:
(A) s_{k+1} = s_k - F(s_k)/F'(s_k)
(B) s_{k+1} = s_k + F(s_k)
(C) s_{k+1} = s_k × F(s_k)
(D) s_{k+1} = F(s_k)/s_k
Q296. The finite difference formula for the first derivative using backward differences at grid point i is:
(A) (y_{i+1} - y_i)/h
(B) (y_i - y_{i-1})/h
Q297. For the heat equation u_t = u_xx, the explicit scheme with r = c²∆t/(∆x)² has amplification factor:
(A) 1 - 4r·sin²(βh/2)
(B) 1 + 4r·sin²(βh/2)
(C) 1/(1 + 4r·sin²(βh/2))
(D) e^(-rβ²h²)
Q298. The two-point boundary value problem y'' - y = 0, y(0) = 1, y(1) = e has exact solution y = e^x. With
finite differences and n=3 interior points, the system is:
(A) 2×2
(B) 3×3
(C) 4×4
(D) 5×5
Q299. The shooting parameter s (initial slope guess) is updated using the secant method as:
(A) s_{k+1} = s_k - F(s_k)(s_k - s_{k-1})/(F(s_k) - F(s_{k-1}))
(B) s_{k+1} = s_k + F(s_k)
(C) s_{k+1} = F(s_k)/s_k
(D) s_{k+1} = s_k - hF(s_k)
Q300. The maximum principle for the discrete Laplacian states that the maximum of the numerical
solution occurs:
(A) At interior grid points
(B) On the boundary
(C) At the center of the domain
(D) At saddle points
Q1 C Q2 B Q3 C Q4 B Q5 C
Q6 B Q7 C Q8 B Q9 C Q10 C