England School

Math

Daniela Artiles

Gerardo Romero

Simpson’s Rule Investigation

11B

02/24/2019
 Introduction.
The following investigation report tries to explain the Simpson’s
Rule, before any investigation what we knew was that the
Simpson’s Rule had to do with calculating the area of a really
complex shaped function so complex that rectangles were
unable to be used to calculate this area and instead we started
to use trapezoids to estimate the area under that curve. There are
two methods we can use to calculate the area under these very
asymmetrical functions and those are drawing Trapezoids instead
of rectangles just as in the RRAM, LRAM, and the MRAM, and the
Simpson’s Rule; but both of them will be an estimation because
both of them may contain a certain error in the calculation. Once
we’ve learned how to work with the trapezoids we’ll need to know
how to use the Simpson’s Rule and to know what exactly is the
Simpson’s Rule and that’s the main purpose of this report to know
what the Simpson’s Rule is, how to use it, and when to use it.
 Simpson’s Rule.
The Simpson’s Rule is a method for approximating the integral of
a function while using quadratic polynomials. It is also an
approximation when n is specifically divided in equally spaced
subdivisions. The Simpson’s Rule possess a general formula which
is :

Even though the Simpson’s Rule gives a better approximation that

the Trapezoid Rule, the Simpson’s Rule it is not exact. The sources
repeat it over and over again the Simpson’s Rule is an
approximation, this beans that there exist a range of error in this
approximation but this range just happens to be smaller or less
than the range of error happening with the Trapezoid Rule so that
is why we can say that the Simpson’s Rlue is a better
approximation. The error in approximating an integral when n=2
is:
1 𝑏−𝑎 5
−
90
( 2
) 𝑓 (4) (𝜉)

Where ξ is some number between a and b.

COMPOSITE SIMPSON RULE.
Is when the interval [a,b] is in some way small or that the function
integrated is relatively smooth over said interval. But when the
function is not smooth over the interval it means that the function
is highly oscillatory or that it lacks derivatives at certain points.
SINMPSON’S 3/8 RULE
This is another method of integrations that was prioposed by
Thomas Simpson, to who the Simpson’s Rule was credited even
when Johannes Kepler used similar formulas years ago.

And the error in this rule is

(𝑏−𝑎)5
− 𝑓 4 (𝜉)
6480

Where ξ is again some number between a and b.

Composite Simpson’s Rule for irregularly spaced data.
Sometimes I=[a.b] needs to be divided in uneven intervals. In case
of odd numbered intervals we treat them separately leaving us
with
 2
2ℎ𝑁−1 + 3ℎ𝑁−1 + ℎ𝑁−2
𝛼=
6(ℎ𝑁−2 + ℎ𝑁−1 )
2
ℎ𝑁−1 + 3ℎ𝑁−1 + ℎ𝑁−2
𝛽=
6ℎ𝑁−2

3
ℎ𝑁−1
𝜂=−
6ℎ𝑁−2 (ℎ𝑁−2 − ℎ𝑁−1 )

Conclusion.
The Simpson’s Rule is just a method of approximation that will help
us estimate a calculation, this meaning that it does have error but
they can also be measured.