Shafakut Ali Centre No: 20283 Candidate No: 4003

Method 1- Decimal Search

Decimals search method works by looking for a change of sign from a set of intervals.​ ​When the
change of sign is spotted for example the change of sign is between 4.1 and 4.2 you go to 2
decimal place in this case 4.11, 4.12 , 4.13......4.20 and then look for the change of sign and
repeat the process until you get the accuracy you require.

f(x)=​ x​4 ​+7x-5

We can see here that the line crosses the x-axis hence the change of sign between the intervals
[-3, -2]
I will be solving the equation x​4​ + 7x-5=0. The first step I will need to undertake is to work out
where the intervals lie and hence will be using Autograph.

We can also see here that the line crosses the x-axis hence again change of sign between the
intervals
[0, 1]

Change of sign
Key
I will be using the intervals [-2,-3] to find the root via the decimal search method.
x f(x)
-2 -3
-2.1 -0.2519
-2.2 3.0256
-2.3 6.8841
-2.4 11.3776
-2.5 16.5625
-2.6 22.4976
-2.7 29.2441
-2.8 36.8656
-2.9 45.4281
-3 55

x f(x)
-2.1 -0.2519
-2.11 0.051194
-2.12 0.359631
-2.13 0.673462
-2.14 0.992736
-2.15 1.317506
-2.16 1.647823
-2.17 1.983739
-2.18 2.325306
-2.19 2.672575
-2.2 3.0256

x f(x)
-2.1 -0.2519
-2.101 -0.22183
-2.102 -0.19171
-2.103 -0.16153
-2.104 -0.1313
-2.105 -0.10102
-2.106 -0.07068
-2.107 -0.04029
-2.108 -0.00985
-2.109 0.020645
-2.11 0.051194

x f(x)
-2.108 -0.00985
-2.1081 -0.0068
-2.1082 -0.00376
-2.1083 -0.00071
-2.1084 0.002342
-2.1085 0.005391
-2.1086 0.008441
-2.1087 0.011491
 -2.1088 0.014542
-2.1089 0.017593
-2.109 0.020645

The root is between

[-2.1083, -2.1084]

The roots is between

[-2.108, -2.109]

The root is between

[-2.1, -2.11]

The root is between

[-2.1, -2.2]

x f(x)
-2.1083 -0.00071
-2.10831 -0.0004

The root is
between
[-2.10832,
-2.10833]

-9.7E-05
-2.10832
-2.10833 0.000207
-2.10834 0.000512
-2.10835 0.000817
-2.10836 0.001122
-2.10837 0.001427
-2.10838 0.001732
-2.10839 0.002037
-2.1084 0.002342

I’ve successfully found the root which is ​-2.10832

Error Bounds
I will be finding the error bound for -2.10832
x f(x)
2.108325 29.5166
-2.108315 -0.00025
There’s change of sign therefore the root is -2.10832 meaning its spot on.

Method Failure
Here is an equation ​f(x) = x3​ ​+ 0.16x​2-5.2451x+4.35483
​
​ when it is unable to find one of the
roots.

You can see here that the turning point is on the x-axis between the intervals [1, 2] and does not
cross the x-axis which would not show a change of sign therefore meaning the method would not
work.

f(x)=​ ​x3​ ​+ 0.16x​2​-5.2451x+4.35483

This can also be proven by carrying out decimal search using the intervals [1, 2]
x f(x)
1 0.26973
1.1 0.10982
1.2 0.01911
1.3 0.0036
1.4 0.06929
1.5 0.22218
1.6 0.46827
1.7 0.81356
1.8 1.26405
1.9 1.82574
2 2.50463

There’s no change of sign the method has failed for this equation.