Department of Mathematics

MTL107: Numerical Methods and Computations

1. Use appropriate Lagrange interpolating polynomials of degree one, two and three to ap-
proximate each of the following:

a. f (8.4) if
f (8.1) = 16.94410, f (8.3) = 17.56492, f (8.6) = 18.50515, f (8.7) = 18.82091

b. f (− 31 ) if f (−0.75) = −0.07181250,
f (−0.5) = −0.02475000, f (−0.25) = 0.33493750, f (0) = 1.10100000.

c. f (0.25) if
f (0.1) = 0.62049958, f (0.2) = −0.28398668, f (0.3) = 0.00660095, f (0.4) = 0.24842440.

d. f (0.9) if
f (0.6) = −0.17694460, f (0.7) = 0.013755227, f (0.8) = 0.22363362, f (1.0) = 0.65809197.

2. The data in the above problem were generated using the following functions. Use the
error formula to find a bound for the error, and compare the bound to the actual error
for the cases n = 1 and n = 2.
a. f (x) = x ln x
b. f (x) = x3 + 4.001x2 + 4.002x + 1.101,
c. f (x) = x cos x − 2x2 + 3x − 1,
d. f (x) = sin(ex − 2)

3. Let P3 (x) be the interpolating polynomial for the data (0, 0), (0.5, y), (1, 3), and (2, 2).
The coefficient of x3 in P3 (x) is 6. Find y.

4. Contruct a third Lagrange polynomial approximation to f (1.09) using the following values
and 4-digit rounding arithmetic. The function being approximated is f (x) = log1 0(tan x).
Use this knowledge to find a bound for the error in the approximation.

f (1.00) = 0.1924, f (1.05) = 0.2414, f (1.10) = 0.2933, f (1.15) = 0.3492.

5. Construct the Lagrange interpolating polynomials for the following functions, and find a
bound for the absolute error on the interval [x0 , xn ].
a. f (x) = e2x cos 3x, x0 = 0, x1 = 0.3, x2 = 0.6, n = 2.
b. f (x) = sin(ln x), x0 = 2.0, x1 = 2.4, x2 = 2.6, n = 2.
c. f (x) = ln x, x0 = 1.0, x1 = 1.1, x2 = 1.3, x3 = 1.4, n = 3.
d. f (x) = cos x + sin x, x0 = 0, x1 = 0.25, x2 = 0.5, x3 = 1.0, n = 3.
 6. Use Neville’s method to obtain the approximations for Lagrange interpolating polynomi-
als of degrees one, two and three to approximate each of the following:

a. f (8.4) if
f (8.1) = 16.94410, f (8.3) = 17.56492, f (8.6) = 18.50515, f (8.7) = 18.82091

b. f (− 31 ) if f (−0.75) = −0.07181250,
f (−0.5) = −0.02475000, f (−0.25) = 0.33493750, f (0) = 1.10100000.

c. f (0.25) if
f (0.1) = 0.62049958, f (0.2) = −0.28398668, f (0.3) = 0.00660095, f (0.4) = 0.24842440.

d. f (0.9) if
f (0.6) = −0.17694460, f (0.7) = 0.013755227, f (0.8) = 0.22363362, f (1.0) = 0.65809197.
√
7. Use Neville’s method to approximate 3 with the following functions and values.

a. f (x) = 3x and the values x0 = −2, x1 = −1, x2 = 0, x3 = 1, and x4 = 2.

8. Neville’s method is used to approximate f (0.4), giving the following table.

x0 = 0 P0 = 1
x1 = 0.25 P1 = 2 P0,1 = 2.6
x2 = 0.5 P2 P1,2 P0,1,2
x3 = 0.75 P3 = 8 P2,3 = 2.4 P1,2,3 = 2.96 P0,1,2,3 = 3.016

9. Suppose xj = j, for j = 0, 1, 2, 3 and it is known that

P0,1 (x) = 2x + 1, P0,2 (x) = x + 1, andP1,2,3 (2.5) = 3.

Find P0,1,2,3 (2.5).

10. Neville’s Algorithm is used to approximate f (0) using f (−2), f (−1), f (1) and f (2). Sup-
pose f (−1) was overstated by 2 and f (1) was understated by 3. Determine the error in
the original calculation of the value of the interpolating polynomial to approximate f (0).

11. Use Newton’s divided difference formula to construct interpolating polynomials of degree
one, two and three for the following data. Approximate the specified value each of the
polynomials.
 a. f (8.4) if
f (8.1) = 16.94410, f (8.3) = 17.56492, f (8.6) = 18.50515, f (8.7) = 18.82091

b. f (0.9) if
f (0.6) = −0.17694460, f (0.7) = 0.013755227, f (0.8) = 0.22363362, f (1.0) = 0.65809197.

12. Use the Newton forward-difference formula to construct interpolating polynomials of de-
gree one, two and three for the following data. Approximate the specified value using
each of the polynomials.

a. f (− 31 ) if f (−0.75) = −0.07181250,
f (−0.5) = −0.02475000, f (−0.25) = 0.33493750, f (0) = 1.10100000.

b. f (0.25) if
f (0.1) = 0.62049958, f (0.2) = −0.28398668, f (0.3) = 0.00660095, f (0.4) = 0.24842440.

13. Use the Newton backward-difference formula to construct interpolating polynomials of

a. f (− 13 ) if f (−0.75) = −0.07181250,
f (−0.5) = −0.02475000, f (−0.25) = 0.33493750, f (0) = 1.10100000.

b. f (0.25) if
f (0.1) = 0.62049958, f (0.2) = −0.28398668, f (0.3) = 0.00660095, f (0.4) = 0.24842440.

14. (a) Use Newton Divided Difference formula to construct the interpolating polynomial of
degree three for the unequally spaced points given in the following table:

x f(x)
-0.1 5.30000
0.0 2.00000
0.2 3.19000
0.3 1.00000

(b) Add f (0.35) = 0.97260 to the table, and construct the interpolating polynomial of
degree four.

15. (a) Approximate f (0.05) using the following data and the Newton forward-difference
forumla:
(b) Use the Newton backward-difference formula to approximate f (0.65).
(c) Use Stirling’s formula to approximate f (0.43).
 x 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
f(x) 1.00000 1.22140 1.49182 1.82212 2.22554

16. (a) Show that the cubic polynomials

P (x) = 3 − 2(x + 1) + 0(x + 1)(x) + (x + 1)(x)(x − 1)

and
Q(x) = −1 + 4(x + 2) − 3(x + 2)(x + 1) + (x + 2)(x + 1)(x)
both interpolate the data

x -2 -1 0 1 2
f(x) -1 3 1 -1 3

(b) Why does part (a) not violate the uniqueness property of interpolating polynomials ?

17. The following data are given for a polynomial P (x) of unknown degree.
Determine the coefficient of x2 in P (x) if all third-order forward differences are 1.

x 0 1 2
P(x) 2 -1 4

18. The Newton forward-difference formula is used to approximate f (0.3) given the following
data.
Suppose it is discovered that f (0.4) was understated by 10 and f (0.6) was overstated
by 5. By what amount should the approximation to f (0.3) be changed ?

ANSWERS
 x 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
f(x) 15.0 21 30.0 51.0

1) n x0 , x1 , ..., xn Pn (8.4)
1 8.3, 8.6 17.87833
2. 8.3,8.6,8.7 17.87716
3. 8.3,8.6,8.7,8.1 17.87714

2) n x0 , x1 , ..., xn Pn (−1/3)
1 -0.5, -0.25 0.21504167
2. -0.5, -0.25, 0.0 0.16988889
3. -0.5, -0.25, 0.0, -0.75 0.17451852

3) n x0 , x1 , ..., xn Pn (0.25)
1 0.2, 0.3 -0.13869287
2. 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 -0.13259734
3. 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.1 -0.13277477

4) n x0 , x1 , ..., xn Pn (−1/3)
1 0.8, 1.0 0.44086280
2. 0.8, 1.0, 0.7 0.43841352
3. 0.8, 1.0, 0.7, 0.6 0.44198500