ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR ROOT FINDING PROBLEMS

Topic 9: False Position Method

Introduction
The false-position method is a modification on the bisection method: if it is known
that the root lies on [a, b], then it is reasonable that we can approximate the function
on the interval by interpolating the points (a, f(a)) and (b, f(b)). In that case, why not
use the root of this linear interpolation as our next approximation to the root?

Theory
The bisection method chooses the midpoint as our next approximation. However,
consider the function in Figure 1.

Figure 1. A function on an interval [6, 8].

The bisection method would have us use 7 as our next approximation, however, it
should be quite apparent that we could easily interpolate the points (6, f(6)) and (8,
f(8)), as is shown in Figure 2, and use the root of this linear interpolation as our
next end point for the interval.
 ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

Figure 2. The interpolating linear polynomial and its root.

This should, and usually does, give better approximations of the root, especially
when the approximation of the function by a linear function is a valid. This method
is called the false-position method, also known as the reguli-falsi. Later, we look at
a case where the the false-position method fails because the function is highly
non-linear.

Halting Conditions
The halting conditions for the false-position method are different from the bisection
method. If you view the sequence of iterations of the false-position method in
Figure 3, you will note that only the left bound is ever updated, and because the
function is concave up, the left bound will be the only one which is ever updated.
 ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

Figure 3. Four iterations of the false-position method on a concave-up function.

Thus, instead of checking the width of the interval, we check the change in the end
points to determine when to stop.

The Effect of Non-linear Functions

If we cannot assume that a function may be interpolated by a linear function, then
applying the false-position method can result in worse results than the bisection
method. For example, Figure 4 shows a function where the false-position method
is significantly slower than the bisection method.

Figure 4. Twenty iterations of the false-position method on a highly-nonlinear

function.

Such a situation can be recognized and compensated for by falling back on the
bisection method for two or three iterations and then resuming with the false-
position method.
 ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

The Algorithm
Problem. Given a function of one variable, f(x), find a value r (called a root) such
that f(r) = 0.

Assumptions. We will assume that the function f(x) is continuous.

Tools. We will use sampling, bracketing, and iteration.

Initial Requirements. We have an initial bound [a, b] on the root, that is, f(a) and
(b) have opposite signs. Set the variable step = ∞.

Iteration Process. Given the interval [a, b], define c = (a f(b) − b f(a))/(f(b) − f(a)).
Then:

• if f(c) = 0 (unlikely in practice), then halt, as we have found a root,

• if f(c) and f(a) have opposite signs, then a root must lie on [a, c], so assign
step = b - c and assign b = c,

• else f(c) and f(b) must have opposite signs, and thus a root must lie on [c,
b], so assign step = c - a and assign a = c.

Halting Conditions. There are three conditions which may cause the iteration
process to halt:

1. As indicated, if f(c) = 0.

2. We halt if both of the following conditions are met:

o The step size is sufficiently small, that is step < εstep, and

o The function evaluated at one of the end point |f(a)| or |f(b)| < εabs.

3. If we have iterated some maximum number of times, say N, and have not
met Condition 1, we halt and indicate that a solution was not found.

If we halt due to Condition 1, we state that c is our approximation to the root. If we

halt according to Condition 2, we choose either a or b, depending on whether |f(a)|
< |f(b)| or |f(a)| > |f(b)|, respectively.

If we halt due to Condition 3, then we indicate that a solution may not exist (the
function may be discontinuous).
 ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

Error analysis
The error analysis for the false-position method is not as easy as it is for the bisection
method, however, if one of the end points becomes fixed, it can be shown that it is still an
O(h) operation, that is, it is the same rate as the bisection method, usually faster, but
possibly slower. For differentiable functions, the closer the fixed end point is to the actual
root, the faster the convergence.

To see this, let r be the root, and assume that the point b is fixed. Then, the change in a will
be proportional to the difference between the slope between (r, 0) and (b, f(b)) and the
derivative at r. To view this, first, let the error be h = a - r and assume that we are sufficiently
close to the root so that f(a) ≈ f(1)(r) h. The slope of the line connecting (a, f(a)) and (b, f(b)) is
approximately f(b)/(b - r). This is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The function f(x) near a and r with one iteration of the false-position method.

The error after one iteration is h minus the width of the smaller shown interval, or:

Therefore, the closer b is to r, the better an approximation f(b)/(b - r) is to the derivative

f(1)(r), and therefore, the faster the convergence.

To visualize this, suppose the right end point b is fixed and the other, a, is sufficiently close
to the root that the function f(x) is closely approximated by the Taylor series, that is, f(a) ≈
f(1)(r)(a - r). The lines interpolating the point (a, f(a)) and (b, f(b)) are essentially parallel to the
line interpolating (r, 0) and (b, f(b)), which is demonstrated in Figure 2 for the function f(x) =
x2 - 5 starting with the interval [2, 7].
 ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

Figure 2. The secants passing through (a, f(a)) and (5½, 0).

Thus, focusing in on the region around the root and iterating, we have the behaviour seen in
Figure 3 where the next approximation follows a slope which is approximately parallel to the
blue line shown in Figure 2. (The aspect ratios of both Figures 2 and 3 are equally distorted.)

Figure 3. Convergence of the false-position method.

 ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

Examples:
Example 1. Consider finding the root of f(x) = x2 - 3. Let εstep = 0.01, εabs = 0.01 and start
with the interval [1, 2].

Table 1. False-position method applied to f(x) = x2 - 3.

a b f(a) f(b) c f(c) Update Step Size
1.0 2.0 -2.00 1.00 1.6667 -0.2221 a = c 0.6667
1.6667 2.0 -0.2221 1.0 1.7273 -0.0164 a = c 0.0606
1.7273 2.0 -0.0164 1.0 1.7317 0.0012 a = c 0.0044

Thus, with the third iteration, we note that the last step 1.7273 → 1.7317 is less than 0.01
and |f(1.7317)| < 0.01, and therefore we chose b = 1.7317 to be our approximation of the
root.

Note that after three iterations of the false-position method, we have an acceptable answer
(1.7317 where f(1.7317) = -0.0044) whereas with the bisection method, it took seven iterations
to find a (notable less accurate) acceptable answer (1.71344 where f(1.73144) = 0.0082)

Example 2. Consider finding the root of f(x) = e-x(3.2 sin(x) - 0.5 cos(x)) on the interval [3, 4],
this time with εstep = 0.001, εabs = 0.001.

Table 2. False-position method applied to f(x) = e-x(3.2 sin(x) - 0.5 cos(x)).

a b f(a) f(b) c f(c) Update Step Size
3.0 4.0 0.047127 -0.038372 3.5513 -0.023411 b=c 0.4487
3.0 3.5513 0.047127 -0.023411 3.3683 -0.0079940 b=c 0.1830
3.0 3.3683 0.047127 -0.0079940 3.3149 -0.0021548 b=c 0.0534
3.0 3.3149 0.047127 -0.0021548 3.3010 -0.00052616 b=c 0.0139
3.0 3.3010 0.047127 -0.00052616 3.2978 -0.00014453 b=c 0.0032
3.0 3.2978 0.047127 -0.00014453 3.2969 -0.000036998 b = c 0.0009

Thus, after the sixth iteration, we note that the final step, 3.2978 → 3.2969 has a size less
than 0.001 and |f(3.2969)| < 0.001 and therefore we chose b = 3.2969 to be our approximation
of the root.

In this case, the solution we found was not as good as the solution we found using the bisection
method (f(3.2963) = 0.000034799) however, we only used six instead of eleven iterations.
ADVANCED MATHEMATICS FOR M.E.

Lecture Worksheet 9

Using False Position Method, get the roots

of the following equations. Show your
solution via excel. Tolerance of error is at
0.001%

1. 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 − 2
𝑥𝑙 = 0.8 𝑥𝑢 = 5
2. 𝑓(𝑥 ) = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 − 3𝑥 3 + 1
𝑥𝑙 = 0.1 𝑥𝑢 = 3.5
3. 𝑓(𝑥 ) = 𝑒 𝑥 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥 − 2
𝑥𝑙 = 0.1 𝑥𝑢 = 4
2
𝑥
4. 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 𝑒 3 − 𝑥2 − 1
𝑥𝑙 = −1 𝑥𝑢 = 5