Chapter 03.

05
Secant Method of Solving a Nonlinear Equation
More Examples
Civil Engineering
Example 1
You are making a bookshelf to carry books that range from 8" to 11" in height and would
take up 29" of space along the length. The material is wood having a Youngs Modulus of
3.667 Msi , thickness of 3/8" and width of 12". You want to find the maximum vertical
deflection of the bookshelf. The vertical deflection of the shelf is given by
v( x) 0.42493 104 x 3 0.13533 108 x 5 0.66722 106 x 4 0.018507 x
where x is the position along the length of the beam. Hence to find the maximum deflection
dv
we need to find where f ( x)
0 and conduct the second derivative test.
dx
x
Books

Bookshelf

Figure 1 A loaded bookshelf.

The equation that gives the position x where the deflection is maximum is given by

0.67665 108 x 4 0.26689 105 x 3 0.12748 103 x 2 0.018507 0

Use the secant method of finding roots of equations to find the position x where the
deflection is maximum. Conduct three iterations to estimate the root of the above equation.
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.

03.05.1

03.05.2

Chapter 03.05

Solution

Let us take the initial guesses of the root of f x 0 as x1 10 and x0 15.

Iteration 1
The estimate of the root is
f x0 x0 x 1
x1 x0
f x0 f x 1

f x0 0.67665 10 8 x04 0.26689 105 x03 0.12748 103 x02 0.018507

0.67665 108 15 0.26689 105 15 0.12748 103 15 0.018507

8.2591 104
f x1 0.67665 108 x41 0.26689 105 x31 0.12748 103 x21 0.018507
4

0.67665 108 10 0.26689 105 10 0.12748 103 10 0.018507

8.4956 103

8.2591 10 4 15 10
x1 15
8.2591 10 4 8.4956 103
14.557
The absolute relative approximate error a at the end of Iteration 1 is
4

x1 x0
100
x1

14.557 15
100
14.557
3.0433%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 1, because the absolute relative
approximate error is less than 5% .

Iteration 2
The estimate of the root is
f x1 x1 x0
x 2 x1
f x1 f x0

f x1 0.67665 108 x14 0.26689 105 x13 0.12748 103 x12 0.018507
0.67665 108 14.557 0.26689 10 5 14.557
4

0.12748 10 3 14.557 0.018507

2

2.9870 105
2.9870 105 14.557 15
x2 15
2.9870 105 8.2591 10 4
14.572
The absolute relative approximate error a at the end of Iteration 2 is

Secant Method-More Examples: Civil Engineering

03.05.3

x 2 x1
100
x2

14.572 14.557
100
14.572
0.10611%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 2, because the absolute relative
approximate error is less than 0.5% .

Iteration 3
The estimate of the root is
f x 2 x 2 x1
x3 x 2
f x 2 f x1

f x2 0.67665 10 8 x24 0.26689 105 x23 0.12748 103 x22 0.018507

0.67665 108 14.572 0.26689 105 14.572

4

0.12748 10 3 14.572 0.018507

2

6.0676 109
6.0676 109 14.572 14.557
x3 14.572
6.0676 109 2.9870 105
14.572
The absolute relative approximate error a at the end of Iteration 3 is
a

x3 x 2
100
x3

14.572 14.572
100
14.572
2.1559 105%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 6, because the absolute relative
approximate error is less than 0.00005% .

NONLINEAR EQUATIONS
Topic
Secant Method-More Examples
Summary Examples of Secant Method
Major
Civil Engineering
Authors
Autar Kaw
Date
August 7, 2009
Web Site http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu