CV2019

Matrix Algebra and Computational Methods

Tutorial 6 – Interpolation

1
General Form of Polynomial Interpolation (1)

2
General Form of Polynomial Interpolation (2)

3
T6 – Q1

Given the data

x 1.6 2 2.5 3.2 4 4.5

f(x) 2 8 14 15 8 2

(a) Calculate f(2.8) using Newton’s interpolating polynomials of order

1 through 3. Choose the sequence of points for your estimates to
attain the best possible accuracy.

(b) Utilize Eq. (18.18) to estimate the error for each prediction.

Rn ≈ f [ x n +1, x n , x n −1,L, x1, x0 ]( x − x0 )( x − x1)L ( x − x n ) (18.18)

4
T6-Q1

First, order the points so that they are as close to and as centered
about the unknown as possible
x0 = 2.5 f ( x0 ) = 14
x1 = 3.2 f ( x1 ) = 15
x2 = 2 f ( x2 ) = 8
x3 = 4 f ( x3 ) = 8
x4 = 1 . 6 f ( x4 ) = 2
Next, the divided differences can be computed and displayed in the
format of Fig. 18.5,

5
1st divided difference 2nd divided difference
15 − 14
f [ x0 , x1 ] = = 1.428571
3.2 − 2.5 5.83333 − 1.428571
f [ x0 , x1 , x2 ] = = −8.809524
2 − 2.5
8 − 15
f [ x1 , x2 ] = = 5.833333
2 − 3.2
0 − 5.833333
f [ x1 , x2 , x3 ] = = −7.291667
4 − 3.2
8−8
f [ x2 , x3 ] = =0
4−2

2−8
f [ x3 , x4 ] = = 2.5
1.6 − 4

3rd divided difference

− 7.291667 + 8.809524
f [ x0 , x1 , x2 , x3 ] = = −1.011905
4 − 2 .5 6
T6-Q1

The first through third-order interpolations can then be implemented as

f1 ( 2.8) = 14 + 1.428571( 2.8 − 2.5) = 14.428571
f 2 ( 2.8) = 14 + 1.428571(2.8 − 2.5) − 8.809524 ( 2.8 − 2.5)(2.8 − 3.2) = 15.485714
f 3 ( 2.8) = 14 + 1.428571( 2.8 − 2.5) − 8.809524 (2.8 − 2.5)(2.8 − 3.2)
+ 1.011905( 2.8 − 2.5)( 2.8 − 3.2)( 2.8 − 2.) = 15.388571
The errors estimates for the first and second-order predictions can be
computed with Eq. 18.19 Rn = f n+1 ( x) − f n ( x) as
R1 = 15.485714 − 14.428571 = 1.057143
R2 = 15.388571 − 15.485714 = −0.097143
The error for the third-order prediction can be computed with Eq. 18.18 as
R3 = 1.847718 ( 2.8 − 2.5)( 2.8 − 3.2)( 2.8 − 2)( 2.8 − 4) = 0.212857
7
T6-Q2

Given the data

x 1 2 3 5 7 8
f(x) 3 6 19 99 291 444

Calculate f(4) using Newton’s interpolating polynomials of

order 1 through 4. Choose your base points to attain good
accuracy.

What do your results indicate regarding the order of the

polynomial used to generate the data in the table?

8
T6-Q2

First, order the points so that they are as close to and as centered
about the unknown as possible
x0 = 3 f ( x0 ) = 19
x1 = 5 f ( x1 ) = 99
x2 = 2 f ( x2 ) = 6
x3 = 7 f ( x3 ) = 291
x4 = 1 f ( x4 ) = 3

Next, the divided differences can be computed and displayed in the

format of Fig. 18.5,

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T6 – Q2

The first through fourth‐order interpolations can then be 
implemented as 

f1 (4) = 19 + 40(4 − 3) = 59
f 2 (4) = 59 + 9(4 − 3)(4 − 5) = 50
f 3 (4) = 50 + 1(4 − 3)(4 − 5)(4 − 2) = 48
f 4 (4) = 48 + 0(4 − 3)(4 − 5)(4 − 2)(4 − 7) = 48

Clearly the data was generated with a cubic polynomial since the 
difference between the 4th and the 3rd‐order versions is zero.

10
T6‐Q3: Lagrange Interpolating Polynomial

(Q3) Repeat T6‐Q2 using Lagrange Polynomial

Given the data 

x 1 2 3 5 7 8
f(x) 3 6 19 99 291 444

11
T6-Q3: Lagrange Interpolating Polynomial

The data points are chosen and ordered in the same way as that used
in the Newton’s polynomial, i.e. based on proximity to the target x=4.

i xi f(xi)
0 3 19
1 5 99
2 2 6
3 7 291
4 1 3

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T6‐Q3: Lagrange Interpolating Polynomial
n
fn ( x) = ∑ L (x) f (x )
i=0
i i

n
x − xj
where: Li ( x ) = ∏ j=0 xi − x j
Π denotes the “product of”.
j≠i

For example, the 2nd order Lagrange Polynomial is:

( x − x1 )( x − x2 ) 2nd-order polynomial requires 3
f2 ( x) = f ( x0 )
( x0 − x1 )( x0 − x2 ) [x, f(x)] data points.
( x − x0 )( x − x2 )
+ f ( x1 ) In general, nth-order polynomial
( x1 − x0 )( x1 − x2 )
requires (n+1) data pairs.
( x − x0 )( x − x1 )
+ f ( x2 )
( x2 − x0 )( x2 − x1 )

The Lagrange polynomial gives exactly the same interpolated result as

the Newton’s polynomial. It is simple to code as it does not requires the
computation of divided differences.
13
T6-Q3: Lagrange Interpolating Polynomial

The results for the Lagrange Polynomial of the 1st to 4 order are as
follow: f ( x) =
( x − x )( x − x ) 1 2
f ( x0 )
( x0 − x1 )( x0 − x2 )
2

(4 − 5) ( 4 − 3) ( x − x0 )( x − x2 )
f1 (4) = 19 + 99 = 59 +
( x1 − x0 )( x1 − x2 )
f ( x1 )

(3 − 5) (5 − 3) +
( x − x0 )( x − x1 )
f ( x2 )
( x2 − x0 )( x2 − x1 )

( 4 − 5)( 4 − 2) (4 − 3)( 4 − 2) ( 4 − 3)( 4 − 5)

f 2 ( 4) = 19 + 99 + 6 = 50
(3 − 5)(3 − 2) (5 − 3)(5 − 2) ( 2 − 3)( 2 − 5)
i xi f(xi)
0 3 19
( 4 − 5)( 4 − 2)( 4 − 7) ( 4 − 3)( 4 − 2)( 4 − 7)
f 3 ( 4) = 19 + 99 1 5 99
(3 − 5)(3 − 2)(3 − 7) (5 − 3)(5 − 2)(5 − 7) 2 2 6
( 4 − 3)( 4 − 5)( 4 − 7) ( 4 − 3)( 4 − 5)( 4 − 2) 3 7 291
+ 6+ 291 = 48
( 2 − 3)( 2 − 5)( 2 − 7) (7 − 3)(7 − 5)(7 − 2) 4 1 3

14
T6-Q3: Lagrange Interpolating Polynomial

( 4 − 5)( 4 − 2)( 4 − 7)( 4 − 1) ( 4 − 3)( 4 − 2)( 4 − 7)( 4 − 1)

f 4 ( 4) = 19 + 99
(3 − 5)(3 − 2)(3 − 7)(3 − 1) (5 − 3)(5 − 2)(5 − 7)(5 − 1)
( 4 − 3)( 4 − 5)( 4 − 7)( 4 − 1) ( 4 − 3)( 4 − 5)( 4 − 2)( 4 − 1)
+ 6+ 291
( 2 − 3)( 2 − 5)( 2 − 7)( 2 − 1) (7 − 3)(7 − 5)(7 − 2)(7 − 1)
( 4 − 3)( 4 − 5)( 4 − 2)( 4 − 7)
+ 3 = 48
(1 − 3)(1 − 5)(1 − 2)(1 − 7)
i xi f(xi)
0 3 19
1 5 99
2 2 6
3 7 291
4 1 3

15
T6 – Q4

Employ a cubic interpolating polynomial and Bisection to determine the

value of x that corresponds to f(x) = 0.23 for the following tabulated
data:

x 2 3 4 5 6 7
f(x) 0.5 0.3333 0.25 0.2 0.167 0.1429

16
T6 – Q4

The following points are used to generate a cubic interpolating

polynomial
x0 = 3 f ( x0 ) = 0.3333
x1 = 4 f ( x1 ) = 0.25
x2 = 5 f ( x2 ) = 0.2
x3 = 6 f ( x3 ) = 0.1667

The polynomial can be generated in a number of ways including

simultaneous equations (Eq. 18.26) or a software tool. The result is
f 3 ( x ) = 0.943 − 0.3261833 x + 0.0491x 2 − 0.00271667 x 3
The roots problem can then be developed by setting this polynomial
equal to the desired value of 0.23
0 = 0.713 − 0.3261833 x + 0.0491x 2 − 0.00271667 x 3
17
T6 – Q4

Bisection can then be used to determine the root. Using initial guesses
of xl = 4 and xu = 5, the first five iterations are

i xl xu xr f(xl) f(ri) f(xl) f(xr) εa

1 4.00000 5.00000 4.50000 0.02000 ‐0.00811 ‐0.00016 11.11%
2 4.00000 4.50000 4.25000 0.02000 0.00504 0.00010 5.88%
3 4.25000 4.50000 4.37500 0.00504 ‐0.00174 ‐0.00001 2.86%
4 4.25000 4.37500 4.31250 0.00504 0.00160 0.00001 1.45%
5 4.31250 4.37500 4.34375 0.00160 ‐0.00009 0.00000 0.72%

If the iterations are continued, the final result is

x = 4.34213.

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