CIVAMAT

Roots of Algebraic and

Transcendental
Equations
Introduction
The problem of determining the roots of an
equation of the form F(x) = 0 is a common
problem that an engineer needs to solve.
The roots of the equation occur where the
function intersects the x-axis and are the
values of x which satisfy the equation F(x) = 0.
How to determine the roots, numerically, for
algebraic equations or transcendental
equations will be discussed.
Introduction
The following figure shows the plot of
F(x) = x3 14x2 + 59x 70
 Introduction
The following numerical methods for solving
roots of algebraic and transcendental equations
with one independent variable, x will be presented:
Incremental Search Method
Bisection Method
False Position Method
Secant Method
Newton Raphson Method
Newtons Second Order Method
Incremental Search Method
used to determine the interval containing the root
Incremental Search Method
Procedure:
1. Start with an initial value x and assume an increment
i
x.
2. Compute the next value, x = xi + x
i+1
3. Check the sign of the product F(x ) F(x )
i i+1
(a) If the sign of the product is positive, then the root is
not between xi and xi+1
(b) If the sign of the product is negative, then the root is
between xi and xi+1
(c) If the product is zero, then the root is equal to xi+1
4. If the product is positive, replace x by x and repeat
i i+1
steps 2 and 3 until you get a negative product.
Example 1
Find the first the first positive root of the equation (x = 0.3)
F(x) = x3 14x2 + 59x 70
xi xi+1 F(xi) F(xi+1) Product
0 0.3 -70 -53.533 3747.31
0.3 0.6 -53.533 -39.424 2110.485
0.6 0.9 -39.424 -27.511 1084.594
0.9 1.2 -27.511 -17.632 485.074
1.2 1.5 -17.632 -9.625 169.708
1.5 1.8 -9.625 -3.328 32.032
1.8 2.1 -3.328 1.421 -4.72909
Example 1
The first positive root lies between the values
of xi = 1.8 and xi+1 = 2.1

Determine the second positive root of

F(x) = x3 14x2 + 59x 70
(x = 0.7)
Bisection Method
used when the interval containing the root
has been determined using incremental
search method
 Bisection Method
Procedure:
1. Obtain the interval, xi and xi+1, containing the root.
2. Evaluate the midpoint of the interval : xi+1/2 = (xi + xi+1) / 2
3. Evaluate the product: F(xi) F(xi+1/2)
If the sign of the product is negative, the root lies in the LEFT half
interval
If the sign of the product is positive, the root lies in the RIGHT half of the
interval
If the product is zero, the root is xi+1/2
4. (a) If the sign of the product is negative, replace xi+1 by xi+1/2 with xi
the same, then repeat steps 2 and 3.
(b) If the sign of the product is positive, replace xi by xi+1/2 with xi+1
the same, then repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. STOP when the absolute value of the product |F(xi) F(xi+1/2)| < error
or |F(xi+1/2)| < error, where error is a very small number close to
zero, e.g. error = 1 x 10-5. The value of xi+1/2 may be considered as
the root.
Bisection Method
 Example 2
Solving for the first positive root of F(x) = x3 -14x2 + 59x 70 = 0 using
Bisection method and the results from Table 1 (error = 1 x 10-5)
xi xi+1 xi+1/2 F(xi) F(xi+1/2) Product
1.800000 2.100000 1.950000 -3.328000 -0.770125 2.562976
1.950000 2.100000 2.025000 -0.770125 0.370016 -0.284958
1.950000 2.025000 1.987500 -0.770125 -0.188752 0.145363
1.987500 2.025000 2.006250 -0.188752 0.093438 -0.017637
1.987500 2.006250 1.996875 -0.188752 -0.046953 0.008862
1.996875 2.006250 2.001563 -0.046953 0.023418 -0.001100
1.996875 2.001563 1.999219 -0.046953 -0.011724 0.000550
1.999219 2.001563 2.000391 -0.011724 0.005858 -0.000069
1.999219 2.000391 1.999805 -0.011724 -0.002930 0.000034
1.999805 2.000391 2.000098 -0.002930 0.001465 -0.000004
Example 2
The Bisection method was used using the results
from Table 1 with the interval 1.8 and 2.1 and
stopping at the criterion:
|F(xi) F(xi+1/2)| < 1 x 10-5
The first positive root is 1.999952 which when
rounded becomes 2.0, which is the exact root.
THE END
QUESTIONS?
Example 2
Determine the second positive root of:

3 2
F(x) = x 14x + 59x 70

xi = 2.0 x = 0.7

error = 1 x 10-5