Iterative Method

Consider an equation f(x) =0.To find the roots of the function f(x)=0.Rewrite the equation in
the form x   ( x) such that  ( x)  1 If it is in that form already.

Let x0 be an initial approximation for x   ( x) then x1   ( x0 ), x2   ( x1 ),......... the nth

approximation is xn   ( xn1 ), n  1 called an iterative formula.

The function  ( x) is called iteration function. x1 , x2 , x3 ,......... are called iterates and xn is
called nth iterate.
The method is also called method of successive approximations or fixed point iteration
method.

NOTE: It may be possible to write f(x)=0 as x   ( x) in more than one way (for few
functions)

ITERATIVE METHOD APPROACH IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

The process of obtaining the best estimation of solution by repeating the

process ‘n’ number of times is called iterative process.

1. Assume the initial variable properly

2. Repeat the iterations until better estimation is obtained as the iteration progress

3. Stop the iterations after the best estimate is found based on the given criteria
 Problems

Solve the following by using fixed point iteration or iterative method

1. x  1  x
3 2

x0  0.5

x  (1  x 2 )1/ 3 x 2  1  x3 x3  x2  1
1 ( x)  (1  x 2 )1/ 3 x  (1  x3 )1/ 2 x2( x  1)  1

1 ( x)  (1  x 2 ) 2 / 3 (2 x) 2 ( x)  (1  x )
1 3 1/ 2 1
x2 
3  1 3 1 / 2
x 1
 ( x )  (1  x ) ( 3 x 2
)
1 ( x0 )  0.4038 1
2
2 x
x 1
1 ( x0 )  0.4009
1
3 ( x ) 
x 1
1
 3 ( x ) 
2( x  1 )3 / 2
3 ( x )  0.2722
1
 xn1 
xn  1
x 0  0. 5
1
x1   0.8165 x5 
1
 0.7550
x0  1 x4  1
1
x2   0.7420 x6 
1
 0.7548
x1  1 x5  1
1
x3   0.7577 x7 
1
 0.7549
x2  1 x6  1
1
x4   0.7543 x8 
1
 0.7549
x3  1 x7  1

 The required root is 0.7549 (upto 4 decimal places)

2. 1  x  x
2 3

x0  1.5
x  ( x 2  1 )1 / 3 x2  x3 1 x2( x 1)  1
1 ( x )  ( x 2  1 )1 / 3 x  ( x 3  1 )1 / 2 x2 
1
x 1
1 ( x )  ( x 2  1 )2 / 3 ( 2 x )  2 ( x )  ( x  1 )
1 3 1/ 2
1
3  1 3 1 / 2 x
2 ( x )  ( x  1 ) ( 3x ) 2
x 1
1 ( x0 )  0.4558 2
1
1 ( x0 )  2.1900 3 ( x ) 
x 1
1
 3 ( x ) 
2( x  1 )3 / 2
3 ( x )  14140
 x n 1  ( x n  1 )1 / 3
x0  1.5
x1  ( x0  1 )1 / 3  1.4812
x 2  ( x1  1 )1 / 3  1.4727
x3  ( x 2  1 )1 / 3  1.4688
x 4  ( x3  1 )1 / 3  1.4670
x5  ( x 4  1 )1 / 3  1.4660
x6  ( x 4  1 )1 / 3  1.4659
x7  ( x6  1 )1 / 3  1.4657
x8  ( x7  1 )1 / 3  1.4656
x9  ( x8  1 )1 / 3  1.4656

 The required root is 1.4656 (upto 4 decimal places)

3. xe  1
x

x0  0.5
1
x x
 e x
e
 ( x)  e  x
 ( x)  e  x
 ( x0 )  1
xn1  e  xn

x1  e  x0  0.6065
x 2  e  x1  0.5452
x 3  e  x2  0.5797
x 4  e  x3  0.5601
x 5  e  x4  0.5712
x 6  e  x5  0.5649
x 7  e  x6  0.5684
x 8  e  x7  0.5664
x 9  e  x8  0.5676
x10  e  x9  0.5669
x11  e  x10  0.5673
x12  e  x11  0.5671
x13  e  x12  0.5672
x14  e  x13  0.5671
x15  e  x14  0.5672
x16  e  x15  0.5671
x17  e  x16  0.5671

 The required root is 0.5671 (upto 4 decimal places)

4. 2 x  3  cos x
cos x  3
x
2
cos x  3
 ( x) 
2
 ( x)  1
cos(xn )  3
xn1 
2
x 0  1.5
x1  1.5354
x 2  1.5177
x 3  1.5265
x 4  1.5221
x 5  1.5243
x 6  1.5232
x 7  1.5238
x 8  1.5235
x 9  1.5236
x10  1.5236

 The required root is 1.5236 (upto 4 decimal places)

1
5. x  sin( x) 
2
1
x  sin( x)   sin( x)  0.5
2
 ( x)  sin( x)  0.5
 ( x)  1
xn1  sin( xn )  0.5
x 0  1. 5
x1  1.4975
x 2  1.4973
x3  1.4973
 The required root is 1.4973 (upto 4 decimal places)
Practice Problems
1
1. x  Ans: 0.4655
( x  1) 2

2. e  3x
x
Ans: 0.6190

3. e x  cot x Ans: 0.5314

4. sin x  10( x  1) Ans: 1.0886