Bisection Method

Prepared by: Engr. Marvin Y. Villorente

09/17/2024 1
 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) < f(x)
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

Figure 2 If functionf x  does not change sign between two

points, roots of the equationf x  0 may still exist between
the two points.
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 Basis of Bisection Method
f(x)
f(x)

x xu
x x
x xu

f x 
Figure 3 If the function does not change sign between two
x  equation
points, there may not be any roots forf the 0
between the two points.

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 Basis of Bisection Method
f(x)

xu x
x

f x 
Figure 4 If the function changes sign between two points,
more than one root for thef x equation
0 may exist
between the two points.

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 Algorithm for Bisection
Method

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 Step 1
Choose xl and xu as two guesses for the root such
that f(xl) f(xu) < 0, or in other words, f(x) changes
sign between xl 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 xl 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

a) If f xl  f xm   0 , then the root lies between x l

and xm; then xl = xl ; xu = xm.

b) If f xl  f xm   0 , then the root lies between x m

and xu; then xl = xm; xu = xu.
f xl  f xm  0
c) If ; then the root is xm. Stop the
algorithm if this is true.

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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
Yes new upper and lower
Is a s ? guesses.

No Stop the algorithm

Note one should also check whether the number

of iterations is more than the maximum number of
iterations allowed. If so, one needs to terminate
the algorithm and notify the user about it.
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 Example 1
You are working for ‘DOWN THE TOILET COMPANY’
that makes floats for ABC commodes. The
floating ball has a specific gravity of 0.6 and has
a radius of 5.5 cm. You are asked to find the
depth to which the ball is submerged when
floating in water.

Figure 6 Diagram of the floating ball

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 Example 1 Cont.
The equation that gives the depth x to which the
ball is submerged under water is given by
x 3  0.165 x 2  3.993 10  4 0

a) Use the bisection method of finding roots of

equations to find the depth x to which the ball is
submerged under water. Conduct three iterations
to estimate the root of the above equation.
b) Find the absolute relative approximate error at
the end of each iteration, and the number of
significant digits at least correct at the end of
each iteration. Error must be less than 0.05%.

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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 2 R
0  x 20.055
0  x 0.11

Figure 6 Diagram of the floating ball

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 Example 1 Cont.
Solution

To aid in the
understanding of how
this method works to find
the root of an equation,
the graph of f(x) is shown
to the right,
fwhere
x  x 3  0.165 x 2  3.993 10- 4

Figure 7 Graph of the function f(x)

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 Example 1 Cont.
Let us assume
x 0.00 f x   x 3  0.165 x 2  3.993 10- 4
xu 0.11
Check if the function changes sign between xl
and xu .
f xl   f 0  0   0.1650   3.993 10 3.993 10 4
3 2 4

f xu   f 0.11 0.11  0.1650.11  3.993 10 4  2.662 10 4

3 2

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 xl and xu, that is between 0

and 0.11
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 Example 1 Cont.

Figure 8 Graph demonstrating sign change between

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initial limits [Link]
 Example 1 Cont.
f x   x 3  0.165 x 2  3.993 10- 4
Iteration 1 x  xu 0  0.11
x
The estimate of the root is m   0.055
2 2

f xm   f 0.055 0.055  0.1650.055  3.993 10  4 6.655 10  5

3 2

  
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 , x 0.11
x 0.055
l u

a
At this point, the absolute relative approximate error
cannot be calculated as we do not have a previous
approximation.
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 Example 1 Cont.

Figure 9 Estimate of the root for Iteration 1

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 Example 1 Cont.
Iteration 2 x  xu 0.055  0.11
xm
The estimate of the root is   0.0825
2 2
f xm   f 0.0825 0.0825  0.1650.0825  3.993 10 4  1.622 10 4
3 2

f xl  f xm   f 0.055 f 0.0825 6.655 10 5  1.622 10 4  0

Hence the root is bracketed between xl and xm, that is,

between 0.055 and 0.0825. So, the lower and upper limits of
the new
x bracket
0.055, are
x 0.0825
l u

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 Example 1 Cont.

Figure 10 Estimate of the root for Iteration 2

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 Example 1 Cont.
a
The absolute relative approximate error at the end of
Iteration 2 is
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 0.05%.

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 Example 1 Cont.
Iteration 3 x  xu 0.055  0.0825
The estimate of the root xism   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

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 xl and xm, that is,

between 0.055 and 0.06875. So, the lower and upper limits of
the new
x bracket
0.055, xare0.06875
l u

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 Example 1 Cont.

Figure 11 Estimate of the root for Iteration 3

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 Example 1 Cont.
a
The absolute relative approximate error at the end of
Iteration 3 is
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 0.05%.
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)

1 0.00000 0.11 0.055 ---------- 6.655×10−5

2 0.055 0.11 0.0825 33.33 −1.622×10−4
3 0.055 0.0825 0.06875 20.00 −5.563×10−5
4 0.055 0.06875 0.06188 11.11 4.484×10−6
5 0.06188 0.06875 0.06531 5.263 −2.593×10−5
6 0.06188 0.06531 0.06359 2.702 −1.0804×10−5
7 0.06188 0.06359 0.06273 1.370 −3.176×10−6
8 0.06188 0.06273 0.0623 0.6897 6.497×10−7
9 0.0623 0.06273 0.06252 0.3436 −1.265×10−6
10 0.0623 0.06252 0.06241 0.1721 −3.0768×10−7

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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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 Example 2
2. Find the root of f(x) = x2-3. Let the
accuracy/error of 0.002/0.2% and start
with the interval of [1,2].
f(a)=(1)2 – 3 = -2
f(b)=22 – 3 = 1
f(a).f(b)=(-2)(1) <0
Therefore, the root is lie between the
given interval.

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 1st iterartion:
c=(1+2)/2 =1.5
f(c)=1.52 – 3 = -0.75
f(a).f(c)=(-2)(-0.75) = 1.5>0
New int. [1.5,2]

2nd iteration:
c=(1.5+2)/2 = 1.75
f(c)=1.752 – 3 =0.0625
f(a).f(c)=(-0.75)(0.0625) = -0.0468<0
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New int. [1.5,1.75] [Link]
 e=(cnew – cold)/cnew x100
e = (1.75-1.5)/1.75 x100=14.29%
3rd iteration:
c=(1.5+1.75)/2 = 1.625
f(c)=1.6252 – 3 =-0.3594
f(a)f(c)= (-0.75)(-0.3594) = 0.2695>0
NEW INT.[1.625,1.75]
e=(1.625-1.75)/1.625 x 100 = 7.69%

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 4th iteration:
c=(1.625+1.75)/2 =1.6875
f(c)=1.68752 – 3 = -0.1523
f(a)f(c)=(-0.3594)(-0.1523)=0.0547>0
New int.[1.6875,1.75]
e=(1.6875-1.625)/1.6875 x
100=3.704%
5th iteration:
c=(1.6875+1.75)/2 = 1.71875
f(c)=1.718752 – 3 =-0.0459
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 f(a)f(c) =(-0.1523)(-0.0459)=0.00699>0
New int.[1.71875, 1.75]
e=(1.71875-1.6875)/1.71875 x100 =
1.82%
6th iteration:
c=(1.71875+1.75)/2 = 1.7344
f(c)=1.73442 – 3 =0.0081
f(a)f(c)=(-0.0459)(0.0081)=-0.00037 <0
New int.[1.71875,1.7344]
e=(1.7344-1.71875)/1.7344
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 7th iteration:
c=(1.71875+1.7344)/2 = 1.7266
f(c) = 1.72662-3=-0.01894
f(a)f(c)=(-0.0459)(-
0.01894)=0.00087>0
New int.[1.7266,1.7344]
e=(1.7266-1.71875)/1.7266
x100=0.455%
8th iteration:
c=(1.7266+1.7344)/2 = 1.7305
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 f(a)f(c)=(-0.01894)(-0.00537) =
1.017x10-4>0
New int. [1.7305,1.7344
e=(1.7305-1.7266)/1.7305 x100 =
0.2254%

9th iteration:
c=(1.7305+1.7344)/2 = 1.73245
f(c) = 0.001383
f(a)f(c)=-0.00537(0.001383) =-
42 0.00023<0 [Link]
 e=l(1.73245-1.7305)l/1.73245 x 100
=0.1126%
ABSOLUTE ERROR<PRESCRIBED
ERROR

Therefore, the root is 1.73245 ans.

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THE END
 Exercise 1
1. Find the root of
f(x)=e-x(3.2sinx – 0.5 cosx) on the
interval [3,4] and absolute error
must be less than 0.1%.

2. Find the root of f(x) = x2-3. Let

the accuracy/error of 0.002/0.2%
and start with the interval of
[1,2].
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