MTH302 Numerical Analysis - Important Questions,
Formulas & Solved Examples
Important Short Questions
1 Define absolute error, relative error, and percentage error.
2 Write Newton-Raphson iteration formula.
3 Write the difference between interpolation and extrapolation.
4 What is the order of convergence?
5 State the Trapezoidal and Simpson’s 1/3 rule formula.
Important Long Questions
1 Solve given equation using Newton-Raphson method (2 iterations).
2 Solve given equation using Bisection or False Position method.
3 Construct interpolation polynomial using Newton’s forward/backward difference formula.
4 Construct Lagrange interpolation polynomial for given data.
5 Integrate using Trapezoidal or Simpson’s rule with error estimation.
6 Solve initial value problem using Euler’s or Runge-Kutta method (2 steps).
7 Solve a system of equations using Gauss-Seidel or Jacobi iteration (1 iteration).
Key Formulas to Remember
• Newton-Raphson: x■■■ = x■ - f(x■) / f'(x■)
• Secant Method: x■■■ = x■ - f(x■)(x■ - x■■■) / (f(x■) - f(x■■■))
• Bisection: x = (a + b)/2 (stop when |f(x)| < tolerance)
• Trapezoidal Rule: I = h/2 [y■ + 2(y■ + y■ + ... + y■■■) + y■]
• Simpson’s 1/3 Rule: I = h/3 [y■ + 4(y■ + y■ + ...) + 2(y■ + y■ + ...) + y■]
• Lagrange Polynomial: P(x) = Σ [y■ * Π (x - x■)/(x■ - x■)] for j≠i
• Euler’s Method: y■■■ = y■ + h * f(x■, y■)
• Runge-Kutta 4th order: y■■■ = y■ + 1/6(k■ + 2k■ + 2k■ + k■)
Solved Example 1: Newton-Raphson Method
Find the root of f(x) = x³ - x - 2 starting from x■ = 1.5 using Newton-Raphson (2 iterations).
Solution:
f(x) = x³ - x - 2, f'(x) = 3x² - 1
Iteration 1: x■ = x■ - f(x■)/f'(x■) = 1.5 - (1.5³ - 1.5 - 2)/(3(1.5²)-1) = 1.5 - (3.375 - 1.5 - 2)/(3(2.25)-1)
= 1.5 - (-0.125)/(5.75) ≈ 1.5217
Iteration 2: x■ = 1.5217 - (1.5217³ - 1.5217 - 2)/(3(1.5217²)-1) ≈ 1.5214
Root ≈ 1.5214
Solved Example 2: Trapezoidal Rule
Compute ∫■¹ (x²) dx using Trapezoidal rule with n=4.
Solution:
h = (1 - 0)/4 = 0.25
x: 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1
y: 0², 0.25², 0.5², 0.75², 1² → 0, 0.0625, 0.25, 0.5625, 1
T = h/2 [y■ + 2(y■+y■+y■) + y■] = 0.25/2 [0 + 2(0.0625+0.25+0.5625) + 1] = 0.125[0 + 2(0.875) +
1] = 0.125(2.75) = 0.34375
Exact value: 1/3 ≈ 0.3333 → Error ≈ 0.0104
Solved Example 3: Runge-Kutta (4th order)
Solve dy/dx = x + y, y(0)=1 for one step with h=0.1 using RK4.
Solution:
k■ = h f(x■, y■) = 0.1(0+1)=0.1
k■ = h f(x■+h/2, y■+k■/2)=0.1(0.05+1.05)=0.110
k■ = h f(x■+h/2, y■+k■/2)=0.1(0.05+1.055)=0.1105
k■ = h f(x■+h, y■+k■)=0.1(0.1+1.1105)=0.1211
y■ = y■ + (k■ + 2k■ + 2k■ + k■)/6 = 1 + (0.1+2*0.110+2*0.1105+0.1211)/6 ≈ 1.11034