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II

UNIT 9 SOLUTION OF ALGEBRAIC AND


TRANSCENDENTAL EQUATIONS
Structure
9.1 Introduction
Objectives

9.2
9.3
9.4
9.5

Regula-Falsi Method
New ton-Raphson Method
Convergence Criterion
Some Results on Roots of Polyno~nialEquations
9.6 Birge-Vieta Method
9.7 Homer'sMethod
9.8 Muller's Method
9.9 Graeffe's Root Squaring Method

9.10 Summary
9.11 Answers to SAQs

9.1 INTRODUCTION
In the last unit we discussed two iteration methods for finding roots of an equation
f (x) = 0. There we have shown that a root of the equationf (x) = 0 can be obtained by
writing the equation in the form x = g (x). Using this form we generate a sequence of
approximations xi + 1 = g (xi) for i = 0,1,2, . . . . In this unit, we shall first discuss two

iteration methods, namely Regula-Falsi method and Newton-Raphson method. These


methods produce results faster than the bisection method discussed earlier. The first two
sections of this unit deal with the derivations and use of these methods. This is followed
by the discussion of the concept of convergence criterion of these methods. In Section 9.5
and succeeding sections we restrict our attention to the solution of polypomial equations,
i.e., an equation of the form f (1)= 0 where f (x) is a polynomial in x. The four iteration
methods, so far discussed apply equally well to polynomial equations also. But we have
seen that these methods are time consuming and it is therefore, necessary to find sbme
efficienl methods for obtaining the rools of the polynomial equation$. Although a number
of methods are available for the solution of polynomial equations, but we shall restrict
our discussion to four simple methods : Birge-Vieta's Homer's, Mullers and Graeffe's
root squaring methods.
I

Objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to :
apply regula-falsi and secant methods for finding the roots,

apply Newton-Raphson method for f-mding roots,


define order of convergence of an iterative scheme and obtain the order of
convergence of the following methods :
(i) Bisection method
(ii) Fixed point iteration method
(iii) Secant method
(iv) Newton-Raphson method
apply the following methods Eor finding approximate roots of polynomial
equations :
(i) Birge-Vieta method
(ii) Homer's. method
(iii) Muller 's method

Solution of Equatiorrci

(iv) Graeffe's root squaring method, and


list the advantages of the above.

9.2

REGULA-FALSI METHOD (OR METHOD OF FALSE


POSITION)

The Latin word 'Regula Falsi' means rule of falsehood. It does not mean that the rule is a
false statement. But it conveys that the roots that we get according to the rule are
approximate roots and not necessarily exact roots. The method is also known as the
method of false position. This method is similar to the bisection method you have learnt
in Unit 8.
The bisection method for finding approximate roots bas a drawback that it makes use of
only the signs off (a) andf (6). It does not use the values off (a) ,f (b) in the
computations. For example, iff (a) = 700 andf (b) = - 0.1, then by the bisection method
the first approximate value of a root off (x) is the mid value xo of the interval ]a, b[. But
at xo,f (xo) is nowhere near 0.Therefore in this case it makes more sense to take a value
near to - 0.1 than the middle value as the approximation to the root. This drawback is to
some extent overcome by the regula-falsi method. We shall first describe the method
geometrically.
Suppose we want to find a root of the equation f (x) = 0 where f (x) is a continuous
function. As in the bisection method, we first find an interval [a, b] such that
f (a)f (b) < 0. Let us look at thegraph off (x) given in Figure 9.1.
(a. f(a) )

Figure 9.1 :Regula-Falsi Method

The conditionf (a) f (b) c 0 means that the point (a,f (a)) and (b,f (b))lie on the opposite
sides of the x-axis. Let us consider the line joining (a, f (a)) and (b,f (b)). This line
crosses the x-axis at some point (c, 0) (see Figure 9.1). Then we take the x-coordinate of
that point as the first approximation. Iff (c) = 0, then x = c is the required root. If
f (a)f (c) < 0, then the root lies in ]a, c[ (see Figure 9.1 (a)): In this case the graph of
y = f (x) is concave near the root r. Otherwise, iff (a) f (c) > 0, the root lies in [s, d ]
(see Figure 9.1 (b)). In this case the graph of y = f (x) is convex near the root. Having
fixed the interval in which the root lies, we repeat the above procedure.
Let us now write the above procedure in the maQematical form. Recall the formda for
the line joining two points in the Cartesian plane. The line joining (a,f (a)) and (b,f (b)) is
given by

We can rewrite this in the form

Since the straight line intersects the x-axis at (c, O), the point (c, 0) lies on the straight
line. Putting x = c, y = 0 in Equation (9.1), we get

c- a - f o
b-a

b-a

Sdotion,dAlgebraic Plwl
Tr~naeedcoelEqusfjO~~

- f(b)-f(a)

Thus
This expression for c gives an approximate value of a root off (x). Simplifying (9.2), we
can also write it as

Now, examine the sign off (c) and decide in which interval ]a, c[ or ]c, b[, the root lies.
We thus obtain a new interval such that f (x) is of opposite signs at the end points of this
interval. By repeating this process, we get a sequence of intervals ]a, b[,
la, al[, la, a2[, . . . as shown in Figure 9.2.
.A

(b. f(b) )

Figwe 9.2

We stop the process when either of the following holds.


(i) The interval containing the zero off (x) is of sufficiently small length or
(ii) The difference between two successive approximationsis negligible.
in the iteration format, the method is usually written as

where 1x0,xl[ is the interval in which the root lies.


We now summarise this method in the algorithm form. This will enable y0.1to solve
problems easily.
Step 1 :Find numbers xo and xl such that f (m)f (xl) < 0, using the tabulation method.
Step 2 : Set x2 =

-'lf

('o). n i s gives the fist a~Proximation.

f 01) -f ( a )

Step 3 :Iff (x2) = 0 then x2 is the required root. Iff (x2) # 0 and f ( a )f (x2) < 0, then
the next approximation lies in h o , q[.Otherwise it lies in 1x2, xl[.
Step 4 :Repeat the process till the magnitude of the difference between two successive

iterated values Xi and xi + 1 is less than the accuracy required (note that I
the error after ith iteration).

Xi + 1 - xl

gives

Let us now understand these steps through an example.


Example 9.1

It is known that the equation x? + 7x2 + 9 = 0 has a root between -8 and -7. Use
the regula-falsi method to obtain the root rounded off to 3 decimal places. Stop the
iteration when 1 Xi + 1 - xl 1 <

Solution

For convenience we rewrite the given function f (x) as

Since we are given that xo = - 8 and xl = - 7, we do not have to use step 1. Now
to get the first approximation, we apply the formula in Step 2.
Since,f (.%) = f (- 8) = - 55 andf ( x i ) = f (- 7 ) = Y we obtain

Therefore our f i s t approximatic~nis - 7.1406.


To find the next approximation we calculate f'(x2). We have

Now we compare the sign off (x2) with the signs off (xo) andf ( X I ) We
. can see
that f (xo) and f (x2) are of opposite signs. Therefore a root lies in the interval
1- 8, - 7.1306t We apply the formula again by renaming the end points of the
interval as x l = - 8 , x2 = - 7.1406. Thcn we get the second approximation as

We repeat this process using steps 2 and 3 given above. The iterated values are
given in the following table.
Table 9.1
Number of
Iterations

Interval

The
Function
Valuef (xi)

From the table, we see that the absolute value of the difference between the 5l.h and
6th iterated values is 1 7.1748226- 7 1747855) = 0.0000371. Therefore we stop
the iteration here. Further, the values off (x) at 6th iterated value is
which is close to zero. Hence we conclude that
0.00046978 = 4.6978 x
-7.175 is an approximate root of x3+ 7x2 + 9 = 0 rounded off to three decimal
places.
It can be notlced that in regula-fa'aisi method, at each stage we find an interval ]xo,xl[
which contains a root and then aFpli iteration formula (9.3). This procedure has a
disadvantage. XI overcome this, regula-falsi method is modified. The modified method is
known as secant method. In this method we choose .Q and xl as any two approximations
of the root. The interval ]xo,x i [ need not contain the root. Then we apply formula (9.3)
with xo , x l , f (XO)andf (XI>.

Sdution of Algebraic and


Trars~endeutalEquations

The iterations are now defied as :

Note :Geometrically, in secant method, we replace the graph off (x) in the interval
]xn, xn+l[byastraightlinejoiningtwopoints(*., f(*.+]),
f(x,+l))onthe

(r,+I),

curve and take the point of intersectio~iwith x-axis as the approximate value of the root.
Any line joining two points on the curve is called a secant line. That is why this method is
known as secant method (Figure 9.3).

Figure 9.3

Let us solve an example.


Example 9.2
Determine an approximate root of the equation
cosx -xdC = 0
using
(ij

secant method starting with the two initial approximations as


= 1 andxl = 1 and

(ii) regula-falsi method.

(This example was considered in the book 'Numerical methods for scientific and
engineering computation' by M. K. Jain, S. R. K. Iyenger and R. K. Jain.)
Solution
(i)

Letf(x) = cos x - x ex.


Then f (0) = 1 and f (1) = cos 1 - e = - 2.177979523. Now we apply formula
(9.4) with xo = 0 and x l = 1. Then

Therefore the first iterated value is 0.3146653378. To get the 2nd iterated value,
we apply Formula (9.4) with xl = 1, x;! = 0.3146653378. Now
f (1) = - 2.177979523 andf (0.3146653378) = 0.519871175.
Therefore

We continue this process. The iterated values are tabulated in the following
table.
Table 9.2 :Secant Method
Number of
Iterations

Iterated Values xi

f (xi)

p
p

0.3146653378

0.5 19871

0.446728 1466

0.203545

0.53 17058606

- 0.0429311

0.5 169044676

.00259276

0.5 177474653

0.00003011

0.5 177573708

-0.215132~

0.5 177573637

0.178663 x 10 -I2

0.5 177573637

0.222045 x lo-''

From the table we find that the iterated values for 7th and 8th iterations are the
same. Also the value of the function at the 8th iteration is close to zero.
Therefore we conclude that 0.5177573637 is an approximate root of the
equation.
(ii) To apply regula-falsi method, let us first note that f (0) f (1) < 0. Therefore a
root lies in the interval 10, l[. Now we apply Formula (9.3) with
Q = 0 and xl = 1. Then the first approximation is

You may have noticed that we have already calculated the expression on the
right hand side of the above equation in part (i).
Now f (x2) = 0.51987 > 0. This shows that the root lies in the interval
]0.3146653378,1[. To get the second approximation, we compute

which is same as x3 obtained in (i). We findf (x2) = 0.203545 > 0. Hence the
root lies in ]0.4467281446,1[. To get the third approximation, we calculate

Solution of Algebraic and


Tr~nseetuJentalEquations

The above expression on the right hand side is different from the expression for
xq in part (i). This is because when we use regula-falsi method, at each stage,
we have to check the conditionf (xi) f (xi - < 0.

The computed values of the rest of the approximations are given in Table 9.3.
Table 9.3 :Regula-Falsi Method
No.

Interval

Iterated
Values X i

f (xi)

10, I[

0.3146653378

0.5 19871

10.4467281446, 1[

0.4467281446

0.203545

10.4940153366, 1 [

0.4940153366

10.5099461404, 1[

0.509946 1404

-'
0.236077 x 10 -'

10.5152010099, 1[

0.5152010099

0.776011 x

[0.5176683450, 1[

0.5177478783

0.288554 x 10

]0.5177478783,1[

0.5 177573636

0.396288 x 10

0.708023 x 10

From the table, we observe that we have to perform 20 iterations using


regula-falsi method to get the approximate value of the root 0.5177573637
which we obtained by secant method after 8 iterations. Note that the end point 1
is fixed in all iterations given in the table.

di

Oblnin a l l apl)loxirn,rtcroctf r! 11 ll~cIolloairlp cijuatacIn.;ro~nriictloII lo 1111ic


ilcc~malplaces, uung rcculn laTu nlcUioil
(i)

t.10g~01- 1.2 = 0
J I ~ L1.
!

(1,)

Frnil Ihr I o ~ OLl thi: t yunlinn 71 - Icrc I - 7 ~vlllc.hIrckchc t o ' i ('11 3 5


corrccf to 5 O ~ ; I C L S01 dcc111in1,L I ~ I I the
I ~ I I ~ L ~ 01
~ I1,11sc
O ~ 1)0\1I1011.

(')

Fin11 hy I-c~ula-l:~lsi
nicthc?tln root ol 111; cqualio~lx'
betwccll 0.5 and 1.O.

(d)

Usn scc;ult naethwl lo find an al~proxitnatcI i lo1 of Lhc ~:clr~atio~r


A-' --- 2 v -4- 1 -- r b.
rountlctl off to 5 tlcCinlal placcs, sl:rrtin,q will1 ,KO
2.0 ;lntl x l =: 2 3 . C:orn;\;ut.
lhc rcsult wit11 tllc cxact root 1 + $>-,

-+-

.A- - -

1 =- 0, lyiiip

(11)

sccnnr lnzlliod ~Cv1111pwith (I = 1. 1) = 7 I olr!ltlcd oll lo 1111i . ~


dccimal pl:rccs.

(2) Compare Uic rcsulls ohtaincd by (i) and ( i i ) ahovc


Next we shall discuss another iteration method known as Newton-Raphson Method.

This method is one of the most useful methods for finding roots of an algebraic equation.

9.3 NEWTON-RAPHSON METHOD


Suppose that we want to find an approximate root of the equation f (x) = 0. Iff (x) is
continuous, then we can apply either bisection method or regula-falsi method to find
approximate roots. Now iff (x) andf ' (x) are continuous, then we can use a new iteration
method called Newton-Raphson method. You will learn that this method gives the result
more faster than the bisection or regula-falsi methods. The underlying idea of he method

is due to mathematician Isaac Newton. But the method as now used is due to the
mathematician Raphson.
Let us begin with an equation f ( x ) = 0 where f ( x ) and f 'l ( x ) are continuous. Let % be an
initial approximation and assume that xo is close to the exact root a and f' (a)# 0. Let
a = a + h where h is a small quantity in magnitude. Hence f ( a ) = f (xo + h) = 0.
Now we expand f (a+ h ) using Taylor's theorem. Note that f ( x ) satisfies all the
requirements of Taylor's theorem. Therefore, we get

Neglecting the terms containing h2 and higher powers we get


f(%)+hf'(%)

=0

This gives a new approximation to a as

Now the iteration can be defined by

Equation ( 9 . 5 ) is called the Newton-Raphson formula. Before solving some examples


we shall explain this method geometrically.
Geometrical Interpretation of Newton-Raphson Method
Let the graph of the function y = f ( x ) be as shown in Figure 9 . 4 .

Figure 9.4 :Newton-Raphson Method

If Q is an initial approximation to the root, then the corresponding point on the graph is
P (Q , f (xo)). We draw a tangent to the curve at P. Let it intersect the x-axis at T

(Figure 9.4). Let xl be the x-coordinate of T. Let S (a, 0) denote the point on the x-axis
where the curve cuts the x-axis. We know that a is a root of the equalion f (x) = 0. We
take xl as the new approximation which may be closer to a than no. Now let us find the
tangcnt at P (XQ, f (xo)). The slope of the tangent at P (xo , f (no)) is given by f' (no).
Therefore by the point-slope form of the expression for a tangent to a curve, we can write

This tangent passes through the point T (XI, 0) (Figure 9.4). Therefore we get

x ~ f (xo)
'
= xof' (xo) -f !XO)

i.c.,

This is the first iterated value. To get the second iterated value we again consider a
tangent at the point P (.XI, f (XI))on the curve (see Figure 9.4) and repeat thc process.
Then we get a point TI (x2 , 0) on the x-axis. From the figure, we obscrve that TI is more
close to S ( a , 0) than T. Therefore after each iteration the approximation is coming
closer and closer to the actual root. In practice we do not know the actual root of a givcn
function.
Let us take up some examples.
Example 9.3

Find the smallest positive root of

by Newton-Raphson method, corrcct to 5 decimal places.


Solution
Let f (x) = 2x - tanx. Then f (x) is a continuous function and f' (x) = 2 - sec2x is
also a continuous function. Recall that the given equation has already appeared in
an exercise in Unit 8. From that cxercise we know that an initial approximation to
thc positive root of the equation is x = 1. Now we apply the Newton-Raphson
iterated formula.

Here xo - 1. Then f (%) = f (1) = 2 - tan 1 = 0.4425922

Therefore xl = 1 -

0:4425922

- 1.425519

Foa i = 2, we get
X,

= 1.31048 -

2 - tan (1.3104s)

1 - tan2 (1.31048)

Sr'"ti"qof Mwbraieand
TramicedentalEquatiom

Sdution of Equatiom

Now x5 and

are correct to five decimal places. Hence we stop the iteration process

. here. The root correct to 5 decimal places is 1.16656.


Next we shall consider an application of Newton-Raphson formula. We know that finding
the square root of a number is not easy unless we use a calculator. Calculators use some
algorithm to obtain this value. Now we shall illustrate how Newton-Raphson method
enables us to obtain such an algorithm for calculating square roots. Let's consider an
example.
-

Example 9.4
Find an approximate value of c u i n g the Newton-Raphson formula.
Solution

A?

A?

Let x = 6.Then we have = 2 i.e., - 2 = 0. Hence we need to find the


positive root of the equation x2 - 2 = 0. Let

Then f (x) satisfies all the conditions for applying Newton-Raphson method. We
choose 1-0 = 1 as the initial approximation to the root. This is because we know
that *lies between f i a n d f i a n d therefore we can assume that the root will be
close to 1.
The iteration formula is

Putting i = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ,we get

Similarly

Thus the value of @correct to seven decimal places is 1.4142136. Now you can
check the value with the calculator.
Note 1 :The method used in the above example is applicable for finding square root of
any positive real number. For example, suppose we want to find an approximate value of
fiwhere A is a positive real number. Then we consider the equation - A = 0. The
iterated formula in this case is

A?

This formula involves only the basic arithmetic operations +, -, x and i.


Note 2 :From Examples (9.3) and (9.4), we find that Newton-Raphson method gives the
root very fast. One reason for this is that the derivative 1 f ' (x) 1 is large compared to

1 f ( x ) ~for any x = xi. The quantity i

which is the difference between two iterated


.f ' (1)
values is small in this case. In generalwe can say that if 1 f ' (xi) 1 is large compared to
1 f (xi) I ,then we can obtain the desired root very fast by this method.
The Newton-Raphson method has some limitations. In the following remarks we mention
some of the difficulties.
Remark 1

Supposef ' (xi) is zero in a neighbourhood of the root, then it may happen that
f ' (x,) = 0 for some x,. In thts case we cannot apply Newton-Raphson formula,
since division by zero is not allowed.
Remark 2
Another difficulty is that it may happen that f ' (x) is zero only at the roots. This
happens in either of the situations.
(i) f (x) has multiple root at a . Recall that a polynomial functionf (x) has a
multiple root a of order N if we can writs:

f(x) = (x- alNh (x)


where h (x) is a function such that h (a) # 0. For a general functionf (x), this
meansf(a) = 0 = f ' ( a ) = . . . = r - ' ( a ) a n d r ( a ) # 0.
(ii) f (x) has a stationary point (point of maximum or minimum) at the root [that if
f ' (x) = 0 at some point x then x is called a stationary point].
In such cases some modifications to the Newton-Raphson method are necessary
to get an accurate result. We shall not discuss the modifications here as they are
beyond the scope of this course.

(a)

Starting with 3,= 0 firld rul apprnxit~iatemot of the equation 2 - 4n. + 1 = 0,


rounded off to five decinlal placcs asidg Newton-Raphson method.

(b)

The motion of a pla~ietm the orbit is governed hy an equation of the form


!.

c sill .I where e stands fcw the cccenuiciiy. L,ct L -- 1 a ~ e~ =d -

2
Then find a1 approximare mot of 2x .- 2 sin x = 0 in the interval [O, n] with
error less than 10- start wi t11 xg = 13.

(c) Using Newton-Raphson square root algorithm, find the following roots within
3
an accuracy of 10- .
(i)

81n, starting wlth

= 3

(ii) 9 1In, starting with xo = 10


((1)

Carl Newton-Raphson iteration method he used to solve the equation xlB = O'!

Give reasons for your answer.


In the next section we shall discuss a criterion using which we can check the efficiency of
an iteration process. Also, we shall introduce a new concept called 'convergence
criterion' related to an iteration process.

9.4 CONVERGENCE CRITERION


I

This clitelion gives US an idea of how many successive iterations have to be carried out to
obtain the root to the desired accuracy.

solution oPAlgebral~and
Transcendental Equations

Dtfinltlon 1
Let a , xl

.. . . ,xn

be the successive approximations of an iteration process. We

&note the'sequence of these approximations as


?nJ'= 0

Xn

=0

. We say that

convergence to a root a with order p 1 1 if

for some number h > 0.p is called the order of convergence and h is called the
asymptotic error constant.

For each i, we denote by ei =

xi

- a. Then the above inequality be written as

This inequality shows the relationship between the error in successive


for some i, then we
apprbximations. For example. suppose p = 2 and 1 E, / =
Thus if p is large, the iteration converges
can expect that ( ei + 1 = h
rapidly. When p takes the integer values 1.2.3 then we say that the convergence is
Ilnear, quadratlc and cublc respectively. In the case of linear convergence
(i.e., p = I), then we require that h < 1. In this case we can write (9.6) as

If this condition is satisfied for an iteration process then we say that the iteration
process converges linearly.
Setting n = 0 in the inequality (9.8), we get

Forn = 1,weget

Similarly for n = 2, we get

Using induction on n, we get that

1 xn-aI 5 hnl *-a( forn r 0


Ifleiher of the inequalities (9.8) or (9.9) is satisfied, then we conclude that
'

(XnJ =

(9.9)

converges to themot.

Now we shall find the order of convergence of the iteration methods which you have
studied so far. Let us consider bisection method.
Convergence of Blsectlon Method
Suppose that we apply the bisection me& on the interval [UCJ, bol for the equation
f (x) = 0. In this method you have seen that we construct intervals
[ao, bol 2 [a1 , bll I> [a2 , b2] 2 . . . each of which contains the required root of the
given equation.
1 i.e.,
Recall that in each step the interval width is reduced by 2

and
We know that the equationf (x) = 0 has a root in [q,, bo]. Let a be the root of the
equation. Then a lies in al\ the intervals [ai, bi], i = 0.1.2, ,. . . . For any n, let
an + bn
c, = -denote the middle point of the interval [a,, b,J. Then co ,cl ,c2, . . . are
2
taken as successive approximations to the root a. Let's check the inequality (9.8) for

For each n, a lies in the interval [a, , b,]. Therefore we have

Thus

FnJ=

converges to the root a.Hence we can say that the bisection method

always converges.
For practical purposes, we should be able to decide at what stage we can stop the iteration
to have an acceptably good approximate value of a.The number of iterafions required to
achieve a given accuracy for the bisection method can be obtained. Suppose that we want
an approximate solution within an error bound of lo-" (recall that you have studied error
bounds in Unit 8). Taking logrithms on both sides of Equation (9.10), we find that the
number of iterations required, say n, is approximately given by
n = int

"I

where the symbol 'int' stands for the integral part of the number in bracket and I@, bo[
is the initial interval in which a root lies.
Let us work out an example.
Example 9.5
Suppose that the bisection method is used to find a zero off (x) in the interval
[O, 11. How many times this interval be bisected to guarantee that we have an
approximate root with absolute error less than or equal to 10Solution
Let n denote the requirednumber. To calculate n, we apply the formula (9.11) with
%=0,bo=1andM=5.

'.

Then

Using a calculator, we find

Solution oC Eqnatlons

--=int [16.60964047] = 17

The following table g 4 - e sthe minimum number of iterations required to find an


approximate root in the interval 10, 1[ for various acceptable errors.

This table shows that for getting an approximate value with an absolute error bounded by
10- we have to perform 17 iterations. Thus even though the bisection method is simple
to use, it requires a large number of iterations to obtain a reasonably good approximate
root. This is one of the disadvantages of the bisection method.
Note : The formula given in Equation (9.11)shows that, given an acceptable error, the
number of iterations depends upon the initial interval and thereby depends upon the initial
approximation of the root and not directly on the values off (x) at these approximations.
Next we shall obtain the convergence criteria for the secant method.

',

Convergence Witeria for Secant Method

Let f (x) = 0 be the given equation. Let a denote a simple root of the equation f (x) = 0.
Then we have f' (a) # 0. The iteration scheme for the secant method is

For each i, set ~i = xi - a . Then xi =

&i

+ a. Substituting in Equation

(9.12),we get

Now we expand f (ei + a) and f (ei- a)using Taylor's theorem about the point x = a
We get

since f (a) = 0.
Similarly,

Therefore

f" (a)
)2ft(a)
Substituting Equation (9.14) and Equation (9116)in Equation (9.13),we get=f'(a)

&i-Ei-1

1[

1+

(E i - E i - 1

"]

(9.16)

2f
Ei

(a)
f ' (a)
"

"

(a)

.f " (a)

f ' (a)
B y neglecting the terms involving ~iE?-

+ &i2

- 1 the above expression, we get

This relationship between the errors is called the error equation. Note that this
relationship holds only if a is a simple root. Now using Equation (9.17) we will find
numbers p and h such that

Setting i = j - 1, we obtain

or

~i =

h E$'-

Taking pth root both sides, we get

&;/'

hl/p Ei - 1

~.e.,
ei - = A- I4 EiVP
Combining Equations (9.17) and (9.18),we get

h&f =

EiEl-l

f" (a)
2 f ' (a)

Substituting the expression for ~i- 1 from Equation (9.19) in the above expression we get

Equating the powers of

~ion

both sides of Equation (9.20),we get

This is a quadratic equation in p. The roots ace given by

Since p cannot be negative we ignore the negative value. Hence we have,

Now, to get the number h, we equate the constant terms on both sides of Equation (9.20).
Then we get

Sdution of Algebraic nad


Transcendental Equations

Solution of Quatiom

r2 (air

Hence the order of convergence of the secant method is p = 1.62 and the asymptotic
error constant is

f" (a)

+'

Example 9.6

The following are the five successive iterations obtained by secant method to find
the root a = - 2 of the equation x 3 - 3x + 2 = 0.
= - 2.6, ~2 = - 2.4, ~3 = - 2.106598985,

XI

- 2.022641412, and xs = - 2.000022537

~4 =

Compute the asymptotic error constant and show that &5

32 ~ q ,

Solution

Letf(x) = 2 - 3 x + 2

Then
f'(x) = 3 2 - 3 , f P ( - 2 ) = 9
f" (x) =

[- 51
[- t]

a,
f"

(- 2) =

- 12

.618

merefore 1 =

.618

- 0.778351205

Now
ES

I x5 - a I

1 - 2.000022537 + 2 1

= 0.000022537

-and
~q

= 1 - 2.022641412 + 2 1 = 0.022641412.

Then h q = 0.778351205 x 0.022641412


= 0.000021246
= 0.00002253

Hence we get that h q

= e5

Convergence Crlterlon for Fixed Point Iteration Method

Recall that in this method we write the equation in the form


x = R (4

Let a denote a root of the equation. Let xo be an initial approximation to the root. The
iteration formula is
x,+l = g ( x i ) , i = 0, 1 . 2 , .

..

(9.21)

We assume that g '(x) exists and is continuous and I g ' (x)1 < 1 in an interval containing
the root a. We also assume that xo , xl , . . . lie in this interval.

Since g '(x) is continuous near the root and I g ' (x)1 < 1, there exists an interval
l a - h , a + h [ , where h > 0, such that 1 g ' (x)I Ik for some k, where 0 < k < 1.
Since a is a root of the equation, we have
62

a = g (a).

(9.22)

Subtracting (9.22) from (9.21) we get

.
Now the function g (x) is continuous in the interval 1x1 , a[ and g ' (x) exists in this
interval. Hence g (x) satisfies all the conditions of the mean value theorem (see Unit 8).
Then by the mean value theorem there exists a 6 between xi and a such that

Note that.5 lies in ]a- h , a + h[ and therefore 1 g ' (5) 1 < k and hence
-

Setting i = 0 , 1 , 2 , . . .,n we get

This shows that the sequence of approximations (xi) converges tg a m v i d e d that the
initial approximation is close to the root.
We summarise the result obtained for this iteration process in the following Theorem.
Theorem 1
If g (x) and g ' (x) are continuous in an interval about a root a of the equation
x = g (x), and if I g ' (x) 1 < 1 for all x in the interval, then the successive
approximations xl , q , . . . given by

conqrges to the root a provided that the initial approximation is chosen in the
above interval.
all now discuss the order of convergence of this method. From the previous
we have the result.

Note that 5 is dependent on each xi . Now we wish to determine the constants X andp
independent of xi such that

Note that as the approximations xi get closer to the root a, g ' (5) approaches a constant
value g ' ( a ) . Therefore, in the limiting case, as i + -, the approximations satisfy the
relation

Therefore, we conclude that if g ' ( a )


If g ' (a)= 0,then we have
xi+,-a = g'(xi)-a

0, then the convergence of the method is linear.

Solution of Equations

- (xi- a) g " (5)


2
since g (a)= a and g ' (a)= 0 and 5 lies between xi and a.
Therefore, in the limiting case we have,

Hence, if g ' (a)= 0 and g " (a)f 0, then this iteration method is of order 2.
Example 9.7

Suppose a and p are the roots of equation 1+ ax + b = 0. Consider a


rearrangement of this equation-as

Show that the iteration xi + 1 =

al

(ax;
+ b)

> I pl.

XI

will converge near x = a when

Solution

The iterations are given by

By Theorem 1, these iterations converge to a if / g ' (x)1 < 1 near a i.e., if


1 g ' (x)1 = ,) - -1b < 1. Note that g ' (x)is continuous near a.If the iterations

b
converge to x = a,then we require 1 g ' (a)1 = I - 7I < 1.
a

Thus
i.e..
Now you recall from your elementary algebra course that if a and P are the roots,
then

Therefore 1 bl = 1 a 1

1 P 1 . Substituting in Equation (9.23),


we get
l ai2 > 1

-bl =

a1

l pl

Hence
I a1 > I P I
Finally we shall discuss the convergence of the Newton-Raphson method.
Convergence of Newton-Raphson Method

Newton-Raphson iteration formula is given by

To obtain the order of the method we proceed as in the secant method. We assume that a
is a simple root off (x)= 0. Let

Then we have

Sdotion of Algebraic and


Trarrseedenial Equatiom

i.e.,

Ei+l =

Ei f'

(Ei + a ) -f (Ei + a )

f'

( ~ +
i a)

Now we expand f ( E+~a ) and f' (ci + a ) , using Taylor's theorem, about the point a . We
have

But f ( a ) = 0 and f' ( a )

0. Therefore

Hence, by neglecting higher powers of &i we get

This shows that the errors satisfy Equation (9.6) with p = 2 and h =

-f"O ~ e n c e
2f' (a)'

Newton-Raphson method is of order 2 can be used. That is at each step, the error is
proportional to the square of the previous error.
An alternate mefhod to show that the order is 2 can be used. Note that we can write (9.24)
in the form x = g ( x ) where

Then

A[,

g'(x) = - x - %]=I-

[(r' (x)12 - f ( x ) f " ( x )


[f' (x)12

Now,
gJ(a)=

*f"

(a) =

o ,sincef ( a ) = o andf'

( a ) t 0.

[f' (00l2

He ce by the conclusion drawn in the above Example, the method is of order 2. Note that
this is true only if a is a simple root. If a is a multiple root i.e., if f' ( a ) = 0, then the
convergence is not quadratic but only linear. We shall not prove this result, but we shall
illustrate this with an example.
Let us consider an example.

Example 9.8
Let f (x) = (x - 214 = 0. Starting with the initial approximation Q = 2.1, compute
the iterations xl , x2 , x3 and xq using Newton-Raphson method. Is the sequence
converging quadratically or linearly?
Solution

The given function has multiple roots at x = 2 and is of order 4.

Newton-Raphson iteration formula for the given equation is

,= ;
(3xi - 2)
Starting with Q = 2.1, the iterations are given by

Similarly,
x2

2.05625

and

3
Thus the convergence is linear in this case. The error is reduced by a factor of 4
with each iteration. This result can also be obtained directly from Equation (9.25).
In rbe next section, we shall begin by listing some of the important results about the roots
of polynomial equations.

9.5 SOME RESULTS ON ROOTS OF POLYNOMIAL


EQUATIONS
The main contribution in the study of polynomial equations is due to the French
mathematician Rene Descarte's. The results appeared in the third part of this famous
paper 'Lageometric' which means 'The geometry'.
Consider a polynomial equation of degree n

where a, a1 ,. . . ,a, are real numbers and a, # 0. You know that the roots of a
polynomial equation need not be real numbers, it can be complex numbers, that is
numbers of the form z = a + i b where a and b are real numbers. The following results
are basic to the study of roots of polynomial equations.
Theorem 2 (Fundamental Theorem of Algebra)
Let p (x) be a polynomial of degree n 2 1 given by Equation (9.26). Tben
p (x) = 0 has at least one root; that is there exists a number a E C such that
p (a) = 0. In fact p (x) ha,^ n complex roots which may not be distinct.
Theorem 3
Let p (x) be a polynomial of degree n and a is a real number. Then
p(x) = ( x - a ) q ( x ) = r
(9.27)
for some polynomial q (x) of degree n - 1 and some constant number r, q (x) and r
are called the quotient polynomial and the remainder respectively.
In particular, if a is a root of the equation p (x) = 0, then r = 0; that is (x - a )
divides p (x).
Then we get

How do we determine q (x) and r? We can find them by the method of synthetic
division of a polynomial p (x). Let us now discuss the synthetic division procedure.
Consider the polynomial p (x) as given in Equation (9.26).

Dividing p (x) by x - a we get

where q (x) is a polynomial of degree n

- 1 and r is a constant.

Let q (x) be represented as


q(x) = b, ~ ? - ' + b , - ~ f - +...+
~
b2x+bl.
(Note that for convenience we are denoting the coefficients by bl , . . . ,b, instead
of bo , bl , . . . ,b, - 1.) Set bo = r. Substituting the expression for q (x) and r in
Equation (9128) we get

Now, to find bo , bl , . . . ,b, we simplify the right hand side of Equation (9.29)
and compare the coefficients of 2 , i = 0.1,. . . ,n, on both sides. Note that
p (a) = bo. Comparing the coefficients we get
Coefficient of f

: a, = b, ,

coefficientoff-'

: a,-1 = b,-1-ab,,

Coefficientof x0

: q = bo - a ,

bn = a,
b,-1

= a,+l a b ,

bO = a O + a b l

Sdution of Equatiom

It is easy to perform the calculations if we write the coefficients of p (x) on a line


and perform the calculations bk = ak + a kk + 1 below ak as given in the table below.
Table 9.4 :Homer's Table for Synthetic Division Procedure

We shall illustrate this procedure with an example.


Example 9.9
Divide the polynomial

by x - 3 by the synthetic division method and find the remainder.


Solutlon
,
Here p (x) is a polynomial of degree 5. If a5 , a4 , a3 , a2 , a1 , a0 are the
,coefficients of p (x), then the Homer's table in this case is as below.
Table 9.5

Hence the quotient polynomial go (x) is

and the remainder is ro = bo = 17. Thus we have p ( 3 ) = bo = 17


Theorem 4
Suppose that z = 1 + ib is a root of the polynomial equation p (x) = 0. Then the
conjugate of z, namely 5,= a - ib is also a root of the equation p (x) = 0, i.e.,
complex roots always occur in pairs.

We denote by p (- x ) the polynomial obtained by replacing x by - x in p (x). We


next give an important Theorem due to Rene ~escaite.
Theorem 5 (Descarte's Rule of signs)
A polynomial equation p (x) = 0 cannot have more positive roots than the number
of changes in sign of its coefficients. Similarly,p (x) = 0 cannot have more
negative roots than the number of changes in sign of the coefficients of p (- x).
For example, let us consider the polynomial equation

We count the changes in the sign of the coefficients. Going from left to right there
are changes between 1 and - 15, between - 15 and 7 and between 7 and - 11. q e
total number of changes is 3 and hence it can have at most 3 positive roots. Now
we consider

Sdutlon d Algebraic and


T-endental
Quatiom

Here there is only one change between 1 and - 15 and hence the equation cannot
have more than one negative root.
We now give another theorem which helps us in locating the real roots.
Theorem 6
Let p (x) = 0 be a polynomial equation of degree n 2 1. Let a and b be two real
numbers with a < b. Suppose further that p (a) # 0 and y (b) # 0. Then,

(i)

if p (a) and p (b) have opposite signs, the equationp (x) = 0 has an odd number

. of roots between a and b.

(ii) if p (a) and p (b) have like signs, then p (x) = 0 either has no root or an even
number of roots between a and b.
Note :In this theorem multiplicity of the root is taken into consideration i.e., if a is a root
of multiplicity k it has to be counted k times.
8

As a corollary of Theorem 6, we have the following results.


Corollary 1
An equation of odd degree with real coefficients has at least one real root whose
sign is opposite to that of the last term.
Corollary 2
An equation of even degree whose constant term has the sign opposite to that of
the leading coefficient, has at least two real roots one positive and the other
negative.
Corollary 3
The result given in Theorem 6(i) is the generalisation of the Intermediate value
theorem.

The relationship between roots and coefficients of a polynomial equation is given


below.
Theorem 7
Let a,, cr;! ,..., a, be n roots (n 2 1) of the polynornial.equaton

Then

SAQ 3
(a) Consider the equation 2x - loglo x = 7 lies in ]3.71(.1.79[. Find the number n
of bisections required to have an approxjmate nlot witl! absolute error less than
or equal to 10- 7.
b
(b) For the equation given in Example 9.7, show that the iteration xi+ = -X; + a
will converge to the root x = a; when 1 o.1 < I I .

Newttrrl-Kaphson rrirlb,d. Dot-c the result conkeige qundrallcnlly ul lineuly''

Fir!(.!the qc.rc>!ic?nlant1 the st3!naindr'r *a:br:n 2.1'

32 -c 3..

--.

--

1 ir: divided by x - 2 .

tic
check whcthcr fro - .? 1s n ro:tt ol the polynomial
( c ) I J : . : I s~~~ ~ ~ t h ccl~vjsion
t

1?x2

13 ==

0 *ilr~.lirrlrl thi:
7

(]td0t7"11

r x
in,ln, rregative rootc doc', the i3qu;~t~cr~l
i~
Also t l ~ ~ r n n ~tlw
n e~llirnh~r
of pi~sitiv-foots, it any

p014'1101~11;11.

+ 41-' + 1

0 -~6 = Ohere '

J:oir,l

(P)

Sllow that the biquadratic ryuallon I? (a) = t -t I ' - 2x2 i- 4-x -- 24 = 0 has at
1easl.two real roots one posltive and the olller negative.

In the next section we shall discuss one of the'simple methods for solving polynomial
equations.
We shall now discuss the Birge-Vieta method for finding the real roots of a polynomial
equation. This method is based on an orlginal method due to two English mathematicians
Birge and Vieta. This method is a modified form of Newton-Raphson method.

9.6 BIRGE-VIETA METHOD


Consider, a polynomial equation of degree n, say

Let % be an initial approximation to the root a. The Newton-Raphson iterated formula for
improving this approximation is

To apply this formula we should be able to evaluate both p,, (x) andq',, (x) at any xi .The
most natural way is to evaluate

pF(xi) = nu,

$-I

+ (n-

1) a,,-] # - 2

+ . .. +

2a2 q

+ a1

However, this is the most inefficient way of evaluating a polynomial, because of the
amount of computations involved and also due to the possible growth @f
round off errors.
Thus there is a need to look for some efficient method for evaluating pn (x) and p ', (x).
Let us consider the evaluation of p,, (x) and p ,' (x) at xo using Homer's method as
discussed in the previous section.
We have

where

and
bo = Pn (%) = ro
We have already discussed in the previous section how to find hi , i

(9.33)
1,2, . . . ,n.

Next we shall find the'derivativep ,' (Q) using Homer's method. We divide 9,(x - q~)
using Homer's method. That is, we write

(x) by

Comparing the coefficients, we get ci as given in the following table


Table 9.6

As observed in Section 1, we have


Cl
G

= 4,- l(%)

Now, from Equations (9.32) and (9.33). we have


P ~ ( x )= (x-%)qn-l (x)+P~(%)

Differentiating both sides of Equation (9.35) w.r.t. x. we get


pPn (XI = qn-t (XI + (x-%)qPn-l(x)
Putting x = % in Equation (9.36). we get

Comparing (9.34) and (9.37), we get

Hence the Newton-Raphson method (Equation 9.31) using (9.33) and (9.38), simplifies to

We summarise the evaluation of biand ci in the following &h' e.


Table 9.7

Let us consider an example.


Example 9.10
valuate p '(3) for the polynomial

So~ution
Here the coefficients are a0 = 4 0 a1 = 4 , a2 = 8 , a3 = 8 , a4 = - 6 and
as = 1. To compute b ~we
, form the following table.

1
/

Table 9.8

Therefore, p ' (3) = 25


Now we shall illustrate why this method is more efficient than the direct method.
Let us consider an example. Suppose we want to evaluate the polynomial

for any given x.


When we evaluate by direct method, we compute each power of x by multiplying
with x the preceding power of xas

2 = ~(2)'
x4 = ~

( 2etc.
)

Thus each term c p takes two multiplications for k > 1. Then the total number of
multiplications involved in the evaluation of p (x) is 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 9.
When we use Homer's method the total number of multiplications is 5. The
number of additions in both cases are the same. This shows that less computation
is involved while using Homer's method and thereby reduces the error in
computation.
Let us now solve some problems using Birge-Vieta method.
Example 9.11
Use Birge-Vieta method to find all the positive real roots, rounded off to three
decimal places, of the equation

Stop the iteration whenever 1 xi + 1 - Xi I < 0.0001


Solution
We first note that the given equation

is of degree 4. Therefore, by Theorem 1, this equation has 4 roots. Since there is


only one change of sign in the coefficientsof this equation. Descarte's rule of signs
(see Theorem 4), states that the equation can have at most one positive real root.
Now let us examine whether the equation has a positive real root. Since p4 (0)= - 15 and p4 (1) = 19,,byIntermediate value theorem, the equation
1
has a root lying in 10, 1 [.
We take -q, = 0.5 as the initial approximation to the root. The first iteration is
given by

Now we evaluate p4 (0.5) and p( (0.5) using Homer's method. The results are
given in the following table.
Table 9.9
7

24

- 15

Therefore XI = 0.5 - - 7"625 = 0.7459


30.75
The second iteration is given by

Using synthetic division, we form the following table of values


Table 9.10
7

Therefore xz = 0.7459

24

- -----2.3132 - 0.6998
50.1469

Third iteration is given by

Table 9.11

For the fourth iteration we have

Table 9.12

- 15

Solution of Algebraic a d
TramwendentalEquntions

Since x3 and x4 are Lhe same, we get I x4 - x3 1 < 0.0001 and therefore we stop the
iteration here. Hence the approximate value of the root rounded off to three
decimal places is 0.698.
Next we shall illustrate how Birge-Vieta's method helps us to find all real roots of
a polynomial equation
Consider Equation (9.29)

If a is a root of the equation p (x) = 0, then p (x) is exactly divisible by x - a, that


is, bo = 0. In finding the approximations to the root by the Birge-Vieta method, we
find that bo approaches zero (hO-+0 ) as xi approaches a (xi+ a).Hence, if xn is
taken as the final approximation to the root satisfying the criterion
I x, - xn- I < E, then to this approximation, the required quotient is
q n - , (x) = bn J?-

+bn-1

Y - ~ + . .+.b l

where b 'i s are obtained by using xn and the Homer's method. This polynomial is
called the deflated polynomial or reduced polynomial. The next root is now
obtained using q, - 1 (x) and not p, (x). Continuing this process, we can
successively reduce the degree of the polynomial and find one real root at a time.
Let us consider an example.

Example 9.12
Find all the roots of the polynomial equation y3 ( x ) = + x - 3 = 0 rounded off
to three decimal places. Stop the iteration whenever 1 xi + 1 -xi I < 0.0001.

Solution
The equation93 (x) = 0 has three root. Since there is only one change in the sign.
of the coefficients, by Descarte's rule of signs the equation can have at most one
positive real root. The equation has no negative real root since p3 (- x) = 0,has no
change of sign of. coefficients.
Since p3 (x) = 0 is of odd degree it has at least one
,
real root. Hence the given equation x3 + x - 3 = 0 has one positive real root and a
complex pair. Since p (1) = - 1 and p (2) = 7, by intermediate.value theorem the
equation has a real root lying in the interval ] 1 , 2 [ .Let us find the real root using
Birge-Vieta Method. Let the initial approximation be 1.1.
Rrst Iteration
Table 9.13

-0'569 - 1.22289
Therefore xl = 1.1 - 4.63

Similarly, we obtain
X,

= 1.21347

Since 1 x2 - x3 1 < 00.001, we stop the iteration here. Hence the required value of
the root is 1.213, rounded off to three deciinal places. Next let us obtain the
deflated polynomial of ps (x). To get the deflated polynomial, we have to find the
polynomial q 2 (x) by using the final approximation^^ = 1.213 (see Table 9.14).
Table 9.14

Note thatp3 (1.213) = - 0.0022. That is, the magnitude of the error in satisfying
p3 (x3) = 0 is 0.0022.

This is a quadratic equation and its roots are given by

Hence the three roots of the equation rounded off to three decimal places are
1.213.0.6065 + 1.4505 i and 0.6065 - 1.4505 i.
Remark
We now know that we can determine all the real roots of a polynomial equation
using deflated polynomials. This procedure reduces the amount of computations
also. But this method has certain limitations. The computations using deflated
polynomials can cause unexpected errors. If the roots are determined only
approximately, the coefficients of the deflated polynomials will contain some
errors due to rounding off. Therefore we can expect loss ot accuracy in the
remaining roots. There are some ways of minimising this error. We shall not bc
going into the details of these refinements.

SAQ 4
(a) Using syi~theticdivision, show that 2 is a simple root of the equation

(b) Evaluate p (0.5) and p ' (0.5) for

(c)

Find an approximation to one of the roots of the equation

(d) Using Birge-Vieta method starting with the initial approximation xo = - 2.


Stop the iteralion whenever 1 xi + 1 - x; 1 < 0.4 x 10- 2 .

Find all the roots of the equation? - 2 x - 5 = 0 using Birge-Vieta mnethijd.


(f)

Find the real root rounded off to two decimal places of the equation
x4 - 4 2 - 3x + 22 = 0 lying in the interval ] 2 , 3 [ by Birge-Vieta method.

Solution of Algebraic and


TranscendentalEquatious

solution of Eqaotiom

9.7

HORNER'S METHOD

This is a very elegant method of finding the real root of a numerical polynomial equation.
The method consists in first determining the integral part of the root and then computing
the decimal digits successively upto a desired degree of accuracy. Suppose it is required
to find an approximate real positive root of the polynomial equationf (x) = 0. Choose
two successive integers a and a + 1 in such a way that f (a) andf (a + 1) are of opposite
signs. Then a root of the equationf (x) = 0 lies between a and a + 1 and 'a' is taken as
the integral part of the root.
Let the root be now assumed as a . b e d e . . . where b e d e . . . are the digits in the
decimal part of the root. To build up the decimal part we proceed as follows :
(i) Diminish the roots of the given equation by 'a' so that the root of the
transformed equation corresponding to a is o . b e b e . . . .
(ii) Then multiply the roots of the new equation by 10 and consequently the roots of
this equation will be b . c d e . . . . By trail find two consecutive integers b and
b + 1 such that the root of this new equation lies between these two values. This
determines the digit b.
(iii) Diminish the root of the equation obtained in (ii) above by b and multiply the
root of the resulting equation by 10 and determine c, exactly in a similar fashion
as done earlier. The iteration process is continued till the value of the root upto a
desired accuracy is obtained.
We shall now illustrate this method with an example.
Example 9.13
Use Homer's method is find the root correct upto three decimal places of the
equation 2 - 3x + 1 = 0, theT00t lies between 1 and 2.
Solution
By Descarte's rule of signs, there are two positive roots and one negative root of
the given equation.
Also f (0) = 0 - 0 + 1 = 1, apositive
f(1) = 1 - 3 + 1 = - 1, anegative
f(2) = 8 - 6 + 1 = 3, apositive
Thus there are two positives roots.lying between (0, 1) and (1, 2). But we have to
determine the root between 1 and 2 only.
The integral part of the root is 1. To build up the decimal part, diminish the root of
the given equation by 1
1.5320
Root

The transfoimed equation is given by 2 + 3x2 + Ox - 1 = 0. This equation has its


root lying between 0 and 1. Multiply the roots of this equation by 10 and the new
equation.is given by

It will be clear by trial that the root of this equation fi(x)= 0 will lie between 5
and 6 as fl(5)is -ve and fl (6)is +ve.
h e first digit of the decimal part is 5
Diminish roots of fl(x) = 0 by 5

The transformed equation is 2 + 45 J? + 375 x - 125 = 0.The r6ot of this equation


lies between 0 and 1. Multiply the roots of this equation by 10 and the new
equation is given by

Again by trial we notice that the root of f2 (x) = 0 lies between 3 and 4 as f2 (3)is
-ve and f2 (4)is +ve.
The digit at the second decimal position is 3.
Diminish the roots of f2 (x) = 0 by 3.

The transformed equation is 2 + 459 J? + 40227 x - 8423 = 0


This equation has its root lying between 0 and 1. Multiply the roots of this
equation by 10 and the new equation is given by.
f3 (x) =

I? + 4590 J? + 4022700 x - 8423000 = 0

Again by trial we find that a root off3 (x) = 0 lies between 2 and 3 as f3 (2)is -ve
and f3 (3)is + ve.
The digit at the third decimal position is 2
Diminish the roots of f3 (x) = 0 be 2.

sdubonofAlgebraicand
Transcedentd Equations

Solutiou of Equations

The transformed equation is x? + 4596 x2 + 4041072~- 359232 = 0.


This equation has its root lying between 0 and 1. Multiply the roots of this equation
by 10 and the new equation is given by
,f4(x)=

X? + 45960 J? + 404107200 x - 359232000 = 0

Again by trial we find that the root of f4 (x)= 0 lies between 0 and 1 as f4 (0)is
-ve and f4 (1)is +ve. This gives the digit at the fourth decimal position as 0.

Thus the value of the root lying between 1 and 2 correct upto three decimal places
is 1.532.
Remark
We have observed that in this transformed equations f i (x)= 0,f2 (x)= 0,
f3 (.x) = 0,andf4 (x)= 0.We searched for two consecutive integers, using the
method of hit and trial, between which the root of the equation is to lie. The
computational work involved in determining these numbers is enormous. However,
it is worth noting that after a couple of transfdrmations the root of the transformed
equation can be conveniently located by considering its two lowest degree terms.
Thus in the transformed equation f2 (x)= 0,the coefficients of the last two terms
are dominant and therefore, omitting the first two terms and solving the residual
equation, we obtain

x=- 125000> 3 but < 4.


37500
Hence the root off2 (x)= 0,lies between 3 and 4.

This gives

Similarly in f3 (x)= 0,the two lowest degree terms when equated to zero give,
4022708c - 8423000 = 0

8423000> 2 but < 3

= 4022700

:.

A root ofsf3(x)= 0 lies between 2 and 3.

Similarly, in the case of f4 (x)= 0,the approximate value of x is given by

9.8 MULLER'S METHOD


'

This is a method in which the curve y = f (x)is approximated by a second degree curve
very near to the actual root. The roots of the quadratic are considered as close
approximations to the root of the equationf (x)= 0.The method is iterative and
converges quadratically. The general iterative formula of the method is derived as follows.
Let xi- 2 ,.xi - 1 and xi be the three initial ap@roximationsto a root off (x)= 0,and let the
corresponding values of y = f (x)be denoted as y; - 2, yi, 1 and Vi. We asshme that a
parabola

Sdution of Algebraic and


Transcendental Equations

y = a x2 + b x + c

passes through the three points (xi - 2, yi - 2 ) , (xi - 1, yi - 1 ) and (xi, ~

i ) .

This gives

+ bxi-2 + c
+ bxi- 1 + c
2 + bx; + c

yi-2 = a 2 - 2
2
yi- 1 '= axi1
y; = a

Eliminating a, b, c from the above set of equations, we get

I Y

Expanding the determinant, we obtain


@ - x i - (x-x;)
Y = ( x ~ - ~ - x ~( -x ~ - ~ - xY i~- 2) + (xi-

(x-xi)
(xi- -.Xi)

Yi- 1

Let us now define

Using the above quantities, equation (9.42) can be written as

It is clear from the above equation that p which depends on x is an unknown quantity and
we need to determine it in order to get a better approximation of the root. Further, since x
and X i differ by a very small quantity, the magnitude of p is very small. Setting y = 0 in
the abvoe equation, we get a quadratic equation in p whose roots determine the value of
p. Thus we obtain

where

i
P

To get a viable solution from (9.47), we rewrite it as a quadratic in - of the form

The solution of (9.49) is given by

Sdotion of Equatiom

Hence

Equation (9.50) gives a better approximation of the root. It shouiibe remarked that the
sign in (9.50) should be chosen in a manner that the denominator becomes very large in
magnitude so that p converges to the root.
Example 9.14
Using Muller's method, find a root of the equation 2 - x - 1 = 0; starting with

xi - 2, xi - 1, $ as 0, 1 and 2 respectively.

Correspoqding to the given values of x , the values of


y = f (x) are given by

For p to be small, the denominator should be large

Hence x = xi

+ p (xi- Xi -

= 2 - 0.3823594 = 1.6176406

The actual root of the equation is 1.618034

.-.Error = 1

1.618034 - 1.61764061 = 3.934 x

In the previous section we have discussed a method for finding real roots of polynomial
equations. In the next section we shall discuss a direct method for solving polynomial
equations. This method was developed independently by three mathematicians Dandelin,

Lobachevsky and Graeffe. But Graeffe's name is usually associated with this method.
The advantage of this method is that it finds all roots of a polynomial equation
simultaneously, the roots may be real and distinct, real and equal (multiple) or complex
roots.

9.9 GRAEFFE'S ROOT SQUARING METHOD


The underlying idea of the method is based on the following fact : Suppose
PI, P2, . . . . Pn are the n real and distinct roots of a polynomial equation of degree n such
that they are widely separated, that is,

where >> stands for 'much greater than'. Then we can obtain the roots approximately
from the coefficients of the polynomial equation as follows :

Let the polynomial equation whose roots are pl p2 , . . . .pn be


a o + a l x + a 2 ? + . . .+anxn = 0 , an # 0
Using the relations between the roots and the coefficients of the polynomial as given in
Section (9.5). we get
an- 1
P I + & + . . . + p n = -an

These approximations can be simplified as

I p1I

an- 1
an

Solution d Algebraic .ad


Tmsaceodeth~IEqultiors

s d ~ t i ~m
oa
f ions

SOthe problem now is to find from the given polynomial equation, a polynomial equation
whose roots are widely separated. This can be done by the method which we shall
describe now.
In the present course we shall discuss the applications of the method to a polynomial
equation whose roots are real and distinct.
Let al, 012, . . . ,anbe the n real and distinct roots of the polynomial equation of degree n
given by

where ao, a l , a2, . . . ,an - an are real numbers and an # 0. We rewrite Equation (9.54)
by collecting all even terms on the one side and all odd terms on the other side, i.e.,

Squaring.both sides of Equation (9.55), we get

Now we expand both the right and left hand sides and simplify by collecting the
coefficients. We get

~uttingi? = - y in Equation (9.56), we obtain a new equation given by

b o + b l y + b 2 y2

+ . . . + b,=O

(9.57)

where
bo =

&

bl = a12 - 2 % a 2
b2 = a$

- 2 a1 a3 + 2 a0 a4

The following table helps us to compute the coefficients bo, b l , . . . ,b, of


Equation (9.57) directly from Equation (9.54).
Table 9.15

ao

a1

a2

a3 . . .

a3

'a?

al

a3

-2aoa2

-2a1 a3

-2a2w

2aoa

- 2 a1 as

-2aoa

bo

bl

b2

b3 . . .

an
.

a8

To form Table 9.15 we first write the coefficients ao, a l , a2, . . . ,a, as the first row. Then
we form (n + 1) columns as follows.
The terms in each column alternate in sign starting with a positive sign. The first term in
each column is the square of the coefficients ak, k = 0,1,2, . . . ,n. The second term in
each column is twice the product of the nearest neighbouring coefficients, if there are any,
with negative sign; otherwise put it as zero. For example, the second term in the first
column is zero and second term in the second column is - 2 a0 a2. Likewise the second
term of the (k + 1)th column is - 2 ak- 1 ak + 1. The third term in the (k + 1)th column is
twice the product of the next neighbouring coefficients ak - 2 and ak+ 2, if there are any,
otherwise put it as zero. This procedure is continued until there are no coefficients
available to form the cross products. Then we add all the terms in each column. The sum
gives the coefficients bk for k = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n which are listed as the last term in each
column. Since the substitution x2 = - y is used, it is easy to see that if a l , 012, . . . , a, are
the n roots of Equation (9.54), then - a:, a;, . . . , a: are the roots of Equation (9.57).
Thus, starting with a given polynomial equation, we obtained another polynomial
equation whose roots are the squares of the roots of the original equation with neagive
sign.
We repeat the procedure for Equation (9.57) and obtain another.equation

whose roots are the squares of the roots of Equation (9.57) with a negative sign i.e., they
are fourth powers of the roots of the original equation with a negative sign. Let this
procedure be repeated n times. Then, we obtain an equation

whose roots yl,

72, . .

. ,b are given by

Now, since all the roots of Equation (9.54) are real and distinct, we have

I
Hence

lyl/

all > l a 2 1 > . . . > I a , l

>>In1> > . . . > > I y n l

We conclude that if the roots of Equation (9.54) are distinct then for large m, the 2mth
powers of the roots are widely separated.
We stop this squaring process when the cross product terms become negligible in
comparison to square terms.
Since roots of Equation (9.58) are widely separated we calculate the absolute values of
the roots y l , 72, . . . ,y, using Equation (9.53). We have

The magnitude of the roots of the original equation are therefore given by

sdutiOnOfAlgebraic=d
Tramcendental Equations

This gives the magnitude of the roots. To determine the sign of the roots, we substitute
these approximations in the original equation and verify whether positive or negative
value satisfies it.
We shall now illustrate this method with an example.
Example 9.15

Find all the roots of the cubic equation 2 - 1 5 2 + 62x - 72 = 0 by Graeffe's


method using three squarings.
Solution

The equation has no negative real roots. Let us now apply the root squaring method
successively. Then we get the following results :
First Squaring
Table 9.16

Therefore the new equation is

Applying the squaring method to the new equation we get the following results.
\

Second Squaring
, Table 9.17

Thus the new equation is

2 + 68332 +

1 7 8 8 6 8 8 ~+ 26873856 = 0

For the third squaring, we have the following results.

Table 9.18

Hence the new equation is

After three squaring, the roots yl,

Hence, the roots a l , a2,

a3 of

and y3 of this equation are given by

the original equation are

Since the equation has no negative real roots, all the roots are positive. Hence the
roots can be taken as 9.0017.4.0011 and 1.9990. If the approximations are rounded
to 2 decimal places, we have the roots as 9.4 and 2. Alternately, we can substitute
the approximate roots in the given equation and find their sign.

sday5
'

i i i

:~pllt;;t? t?f <al-rrj;li waod 7 :),:?It>!.:

in !fj;rxlctcr, t il;lttingin v+,;j!.(;r siilJc$tc: die,

iiL.
;pth of x :ileiers given by tile t..qrl;lti;jn
I

"I-' -

which lies between 2 and 3.

3.12'

+ 2.5

.= i)

Sdotion of Equations

ic. )

I?i~!.i~n~rinc
all rct :!s i:,f tlre A:!' ion;ing equatio~tsi,y i..ir:~r(tc''sroot squarii.rg
x~1ell1c~9.
u.;rliC fllrr'-esq~~ariags.

(f)

E'inrB all O r rnnlr of the poIq.r;o~~ual


x?
C,ir:?:,ft:t's r c w > t :<i[m,asine~r,rrL?o<l.

($9

r ~nci

.-

6 J' t 1 l x - 6 = 0, using
7

thc rcx*l$ill thc cyuatron .I ,- 4 xrtx~tsyading ulethod.


ills

- 5 .r. -

?- - O. wing Graeftc's

9.10 SUMMARY
.

In this unit we have


described the following methods for finding a root of an equationf (x) = 0
(i) Regula-Falsi Method
The formula is

where ]a, h[ is an open interval such that f (h) f (a) < 0.


(ii) Secant Method
The iteration formula is

- xif (xi- 1)
, i = 0,1,2 , . . .
1)
where q and x are any two approximations of the root.
(iii) Newton-Raphson Method
The iteration formula is
Xi+l =

xi-

l f (xi)

f (xi)

- f (xi-

where q i s an initial approximation to the root.


introduced the concept called convergence criterion of an iteration process
discussed the convergence of the following iteration methods
(i) Bisection method
(ii) Fixed point iteration method
(iii) Secant method
(iv) Newton-Raphson method
discussed the following methods for finding approximate roots of polynomial
equations.
(i) B irge-Vieta method
(ii) Homer's method
(iii) Muller's method
(iv) Graeffe's root squaring method

mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of above methods.

9.11 ANSWERS TO SAQs


SAQ 1

We have to fust fmd two numbers a and h such that f (a) f (h) < 0. Since
the function loglo x is defined only for positive values of x, we consider
only positive numbers x. Let us take x = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . .
Then,

This shows that f (2) f (3) < 0 and therefore a root lies in ] 2 , 3 [ .Now put
a = 2 and h = 3. Then the fust approximation of the root is

NOWf (2.72102 = 2.72102 loglo 2.72102 - 1.2 = 1.18291 - 1.2 < 0.


Sincef (2.72102)f (3) < 0 , a root lies in the interval 12.72102.31.Hence
the second approximation is

We find&2.7402)= - 0.0004 < 0. Therefore the root lies in the interval


]2.7402,3[.The third approximation is obtained as

= 2.7406
Since x2 and x3 rounded off to three decimal places are the same, we stop
the process here. Hence the desired approximate value of the root rounded
off to three decimal places is 2.740.
(ii) Let f (x) = x sin x - 1
Sincef (0) = - 1 and f (2) = 0.818594854, a root lies in the interval
10, 2[.The first approximation is

andf ( x l ) =

- 0.02001921

Sincef (xl) < 0 andf (2) > 0, the root lies in 11. ~ 7 5 0 1 7 , 2 1 .

mesecond approximationis
x2

= 1.212407 4

as

Sdotion of Algebraic and


Tramcendental EquaLiom

and

sOlutiondEqaatioos

f (x2) =

- 0.00983461

The root now lies in ]1.2124074,2[.


Similarly, we can calculate the third and fourth approximation as
x3 = 1.11416120
and
~4

= 1.11415714

Since xg and x4 rounded off to three declrnal places are the same, we stop
the process here. Hence the desired root is 1.114.
(b) L e t f ( x ) = 2 x - l o g l o x - 7 = 0
f (3.5) =

- 0.5441 , f (4) = 0.3979

The first approximation to the root is given by

The exact root lies between 3.7888 and 3.79. The second approximationis
given by

(c)

Important Note :In the calculation of the second approximation above, the
interval has been narrowed down by taking the end values as 3.7888 and 3.79
instead of the values 3.7888 and 4. This has been suggested by the fact that
functionf (x) changes sign when x is changed from 3.7888 to 3.79 and
therefore, a root off (x) = 0 lies between 3.7888 and 3.79. This procedure can
be used in successive steps as this saves both time and labour and conveyance
to exact root becomes faster.
x = 0.6822.

(d) Letf (x) =


- 2~ f 1 = 0. Starting withxo = 2.6 andxl = 2.5 the
successive approximations are,

and

f ( ~ 2 )= 0.0145682

To find the next approximation we compute

Similarly, you can calculate that


x4

= 2.41421384 and

xs = 2.41421356
Since x4 and x5 rounded off to 5 decimal places are the same, we stop the
process here. Therefore the required root rounded off to 5 decimal places is
2.41421.
Using a calculator we
Now we compare this root with the exact root 1 + 6.
find 1 + fi = 2.41421, rounded off to five decimal places. Hence the
computed root and exact root are the same when we round off to five decimal
places.
(i) We first note thatf (1) 4 0 and f (2) > 0. Therefore a root lies in the open
interval]1,2[. The first approximationxl is

and f(x1) = - 1.36449 < 0


Therefore the root lies in 11.57142, 2[.
Proceeding similarly, we get the values as given in the following Table.
No.

Interval

Approximation X i

11, 21

1.57142

(xi)

- 1.36449

The table shows that x5 and x4 are correct to three decimal places.
Therefore we stop the process here. Hence the root correct to three decimal
places is 1.731.
(ii) In secant method we start with two approximations a = 1 and b = 1.
Then the first approximation is the same as in part (i), namely

To calculate the next approximation x;?we take b and XI. Here also we are
getting the same value as in part (i),namely
x;? = 1.70540
Then we take XI = 1.57142 and x;? = 1.70540 to get the third
approximation x3. We have

The rest of the values are given by

and
xs = .73205

Since x4 and q rounded off to three decimal places are the same, we stop
here. Hence the root is 1.732, rounded off to three decimal places.

Let us now compare the two methods. We fist note that 1 y + I - xi 1 gives
the error after ith iteration
In regula-falsi method, the error after 5th iteration is

= .ooO54
whereas in secant method, the error after 5th iteration is

I xS-x4(

1.73205-1.731991

This shows that the error in the case of secant method is smaller than that
in regula-falsi method for the same number of iterations.
The given functionf (x) =
continuous everywhere.

2 - 4x + 1 and its derivativef' (x) = 32'

- 4 are

The initial approximation is xg = 0.


The iteration formula is

The first approximation is

and

f ( X I ) = ( 0 . 2 5 ) ~- 4 (0.25)

1 = 0.015625

f ' (xi) = 3 (.25)2 - 4 = - 3.8125


The second approximation is given by

= 0.254098

Similarly, we get

Since x2 and x3 rounded off to four decimal places are the same, we stop the
iteration here. Hence the root is 0.2541.
(b) Letf (x) = 2x - 2 - sin x. Thef (x) and f' (x) are continuous everywhere.
Starting with xg = 1.5, we compute the iterated values by the Newton-Raphson
formula. The fust iteration is

= 1.5 -

1 - sin (1.5)
2 - cos (1.5)

Similarly,

q = 1.498701
We find 1

x2

- x l l = 1 1.498701 - 1.4987021 < 10-

Therefore the required root is 1.498701.


(c) (i) Newton-Raphson iterated formula for computing the $is

Starting with xg = 3, we obtain the iterated values as

Since I x3 - x2 I <
root is 2.8284.

we stop the iteration. Therefore the approximate

(ii) Here the Newton-Raphson formula is

and xlo = 10. The iterated values are

Since I

x3

- x2 I

<

we get the approximate value as 9.5393.

(d)

No, becausef '

(x)

= -is not continuous at the root x = 0.

312"

SAQ 3

(b) Here g ( x ) =

. The iteration
-x+a

converges to a if 1 g ' (x) I = I -I < 1 in an interval containing a.In


(x

particular we require

+ a)2

I
i.e.,
But we have a

gP(a)l = I

-I <
( a+ a12

(a+a12 c I b I .
f3 = - a and a f3 = b. Therefore we get

p2 > I bl = I al I pl
I al < I P I

i.e.,
(c) The iterated formula is

The three successive iterations are


XI =

Then we get &g =

1.458333333

-21 @ and E;!

= - el. This shows that the sequence is not


2

quadratically convergent, it is linearly convergent.


(d) Letp(x) =

2x3 - 5x2 + 3 x -

Hereu3 = 2, a;! = - 5, al = 3,
this case i$ as follows :

= - 1 and a = 2. TheHomer's table in

Hence the quotient polynomial is qo (x) =


ro = 1.

2x2 - x +

1 and the remainder is

(e) From the Homer's table in this case. From the table you can see that the last
term in the 3rd row is zero. Hence 3 is a root of the equation. The quotiept
polynomial is? + 4x2 - x - 4.
(f)

(g)

The equationp (x) = 3x7 + x5 + 4 2 + lox - 6 = 0 has no negative real


root, since there ate no changes in the sign of coefficients of p (- x).
Since there is one change in the sign of coefficients of p (x) the equation can
have at most one positive real root. Since the equation is of odd degree it has at
least one real root which is positive.
Sincef (0) = - 6 < 0
f (1) = 12 > 0.
the equation has a positive root lying between 0 and 1 (by IV theorem).
The givenequationp (x) = 9 + ? - 2x2 + 4x - 24 = Ois of degree4 i,e.,
even degree. The sign of the constant term is negative whereas the sign of the
leading coefficient is positive. Therefore by corollary 2, the equation has two
real roots, one positive and the other negative.

SAQ 4

(a) The Homer's table is as follows :

Sdution of Algebrak nnd


Tramcedcntal Egoatlorrs

- 12,2 is a simple root.


= - 3.875

Sincep (2) = 0 and p ' (2) =


(b) p(0.5) = 1.6875, p'(0.5)

(c) The given equation isp (x) = 2x4 - 3x2

+ 3x - 4

= 0.

The initial approximation is % = - 2. Then the 1st iteration is

p (- 2) and p ' (- 2) are given by the following table.


1

-2

Thereforex1 = - 2 - lo - 1.796.
- 49
Repeating the procedure to find x2, we have

Therefore x;! = - 1.796

- - 32.565

= 1.7425

To find x3, we have


L

Since 1 xs - x2 I < 0.0035


approximate root.

i0.4

we conclude that 1.7390 is the

Since there is only one change in the sign of the coefficients of p (x),the
equation has at most one real root. The equation has no negative teal root since
there is no change in the sign of the coefficients of p (- x). Also

and

Therefore a root lies in ] 2 , 3 [ .Using % = 2.5 as an initial approximation to the


root, you can show that 2.0945 is an approximation to the real root.
The deflated polynomial is given by the following table.

Therefore we get the deflated polynomial as p;! (x)= 2 + 20945 x + 2.3869 = 0 .


The roots of this equation are given by

Hence tile roots are given by 2.0945. - 1.0473 + 1.1359 i.

- 1.b73

- 1.13359 i.

( f ) 2.05.

SAQ S

(a) L e t f ( x ) =

x? -

3x2

+ 2.5

f(1) = 1 - 3
f(2) = 8

+ 2.5

12

= 0.5 > 0

+ 2.5

= -1.5 < 0

Hencef ( x ) = 0 has a mot lying between 1 and 2.


Thus the integral part of the root is 1.
Diminish the roots of the given equation by 1, we get

The tiansformed equation is x? + 0 . 2 .- 3x + 0.5 = 0


This equation has root between 0 and 1. Multiplying the root of this equation by
10, the new equation is given by

Since the last two terms are dominant, omitting the first term, the approximate
value of x is

The second figure in the root is 1.


Diminish the root offi (x) = 0 by 1, we have

The transformed equation is

3x2 - 297x + 201 = 0


The roots of this equation lie between 0 and 1.
Multiplying the roots of this equation by 10, the new equation is given by

.I? +

The approximate value of x is given by


.X =

-> 6 and
297

< 7,

Therefore the root of f2 (x) = 0 lies between 6 and 7.


The third digit of the root is 6.
Diminish the root of f2 ( x ) = 0 by 6, we get

The transformed equation is

This equation has a root between 0 and 1.


Multiplying the roots of this equation by 10, the new equation is given by
f3

(x). = J? + 4802 - 29232200 x + 24096000

a e approximate value of x is given by

~ ofAlpebdcand
a
~
~
Tr~nsceodedalEquPtMM

Therefore the root lies between 8 and 9.


The fourth digit to the root is 8.
Hence the root of the given equation is 1.168.
(b) (i) 4.264

(ii) 2.73
(iii) 3.18
(c) To start with we choose
xi-2 = 1 , xi-1 = 2 and xi = 3
The corresponding values of y are

To make the denominator largest in magnitude, we c h ~ s the


e negative sign.
The value of p is given by
p = -0.3403

The next approximation is given by

We choose the initial approximations as


=

Xi-2

- 1 . X,-1

= 0. Xi = 1

The corresponding values of y are

1
Solving for - which is given by

1
We get two values of -. For the numerator to be largest in magnitude. We take

- ve sign and the value of p after substituting for the quantities is given by
Therefore the next approximation to the root is given by

Repeating the process with x = 0,0.4415 and 1, the next approximation is


given by

(ii) Let y =

x?

2-x

1 = 0. We choose initial approximations as

The next approximation is x; + 1 = xi + p (xi - xi -

(iii) 3.14, Try yourself.


(el

(i) The given equation is x?

6 2 - 36x

+ 40

= 0

First squaring

Second squaring

Third squaring

2560000

320256

10032

.65536 X 1013

-10256 X 1012

.lo064 X lo9

.513638 x 10"

- .640512 x lo6

1o8

.65536 x l0l3

.05 120 x 1012

Hence the new equation is

2+

108x2 + (.05129 x 1012)x

The roots yl , y2 ,and

yli = lo8

.65536 x 1013 = 0

of this equation are given by

Solution of Algebraic and


Transcendental Equations

Hence the roots of the original equation are given by

~ubstitutin~
the computed values in the original equation, we get that the roots
are approximately - 10,2.18 and 1.83. Therefore the roots are - 10,2 and 2.
(ii) Computed values of the roots are 3.014443,1991424 and 0.9994937.
(iii) Computed values of the roots are 7.017507, - 2.974432,0,9581706.
(f)

The computed values of the roots are


3.0144433, 1.9914253,0.9994938i.e., 3,2 and 1.

(g) The given equation is 2 - 4 2

+ 5x

2=0

First squaring

33

18

Second squaring

16

Third squaring

The resulting equation after three squaring is

Then

The computed values of the roots are


Thus x = 1 is a repeat root because f (1) and f ' (1) are both zero.

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