Direct Method of

Interpolation

1
 What is Interpolation ?
Given (x0,yy0),
) (x1,yy1),
) …… (xn,yyn),
) find the value of ‘y’
y at a
value of ‘x’ that is not given.

Figure 1 Interpolation of discrete.

2
 Interpolants
Polynomials are the most common
choice of interpolants
p because theyy
are easy to:
Evaluate
l
Differentiate, and
Integrate

3
 Direct Method
Given ‘n+1’ data points (x0,y0), (x1,y1),………….. (xn,yn),
pass a polynomial of order ‘n’ through the data as given
below:

y = a0 + a1 x + .................... + an x . n

where a0, a1,………………. an are real constants.

„ Set
S up ‘‘n+1’1’ equations
i to find
fi d ‘n+1’
‘ 1’ constants.
„ To find the value ‘y’ at a given value of ‘x’, simply
substitute the value of ‘x’ in the above p
polynomial.
y

4
 Example 1
The upward velocity of a rocket is given as a
function of time in Table 1.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using the
direct method for linear interpolation.
T bl 1 Velocity
Table V l it as a function
f ti
of time.

t , (s ) v(t ), (m/s )
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67 Figure 2 Velocity vs. time data for the
rocket example
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 Linear Interpolation
v(t ) = a0 + a1t y

v(15) = a 0 + a1 (15) = 362.78 (x1 , y1 )

v(20) = a 0 + a1 (20) = 517.35 (x0 , y0 )

f1 (x )

Solving the above two equations gives, x

a0 = −100.93 a1 = 30.914 Figure 3 Linear interpolation.

Hence
v(t ) = −100.93 + 30.914t , 15 ≤ t ≤ 20.
v(16) = −100.93 + 30.914(16) = 393.7 m/s

6
 Example 2
The upward velocity of a rocket is given as a
function of time in Table 2.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using the
direct method for quadratic interpolation.
T bl 2 Velocity
Table V l it as a function
f ti
of time.

t , (s ) v(t ), (m/s )
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67 Figure 5 Velocity vs. time data for the
rocket example
7
 Quadratic Interpolation
y

v(t ) = a0 + a1t + a2t 2 (x1 , y1 )

v(10) = a0 + a1 (10) + a2 (10) = 227.04
2 (x2 , y2 )

v(15) = a0 + a1 (15) + a2 (15) = 362.78

2

f 2 (x )
v(20) = a0 + a1 (20) + a2 (20) = 517.35
2
( x0 , y 0 )
x

Figure 6 Quadratic interpolation.

Solving the above three equations gives

a0 = 12.05 a1 = 17.733 a2 = 0.3766
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 Quadratic Interpolation (cont.)
550
517.35

v (t ) = 12 .05 + 17 .733t + 0.3766 t , 10 ≤ t ≤ 20

500
2
450

ys

v(16 ) = 12.05 + 17.733(16 ) + 0.3766(16 )

400
2 f ( range)

(
f x desired ) 350

= 392.19 m/s 300

250

227.04 200
10 12 14 16 18 20
10 x s , range, x desired 20

The absolute relative approximate error ∈a obtained between

the results from the first and second order polynomial is
392.19 − 393.70
∈a = ×100
392.19
= 0.38410%
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 Example 3
The upward velocity of a rocket is given as a
function of time in Table 3.
Find the velocity at t=16 seconds using the
direct method for cubic interpolation.
T bl 3 Velocity
Table V l it as a function
f ti
of time.

t , (s ) v(t ), (m/s )
0 0
10 227.04
15 362.78
20 517.35
22.5 602.97
30 901.67 Figure 6 Velocity vs. time data for the
rocket example
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 Cubic Interpolation
y

(x3 , y3 )
v(t ) = a0 + a1t + a2t + a3t
2 3

(x1 , y1 )
v(10) = 227.04 = a0 + a1 (10) + a2 (10) + a3 (10)
2 3

f 3 (x )
( x2 , y 2 )
v(15) = 362.78 = a0 + a1 (15) + a2 (15) + a3 (15)
2 3
(x0 , y0 )

v(20) = 517.35 = a0 + a1 (20) + a2 (20) + a3 (20)

2 3 x

Figure 7 Cubic interpolation.

v(22.5) = 602.97 = a0 + a1 (22.5) + a2 (22.5) + a3 (22.5)
2 3

a0 = −4.2540 a1 = 21.266 a2 = 0.13204

3 0 a3 = 0.0054347

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 Cubic Interpolation (contd)
v(t ) = −4.2540 + 21.266t + 0.13204t 2 + 0.0054347t 3 , 10 ≤ t ≤ 22.5
v (16 ) = − 4 .2540 + 21 .266 (16 ) + 0 .13204 (16 ) + 0.0054347 (16 )
2 3

= 392 .06 m/s

700

The absolute percentage relative

602.97

approximate error ∈a between

600

ys 500 second and third order polynomial is

f ( range)

(
f x desired )

392 .06 − 392 .19

400

300
∈a = × 100
392 .06
227.04 200
10
10
12 14 16 18
x s , range, x desired
20 22 24
22.5
= 0.033269 %

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 Comparison Table

Table 4 Comparison of different orders of the polynomial.

Order of
1 2 3
Polynomial
v(t = 166) m/s
/s 393.7 392.19 392.06
Absolute Relative
---------- 0.38410 % 0.033269 %
Approximate Error

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 Distance from Velocity Profile
Fi d the
Find th distance
di t covered
d by
b the
th rocket
k t ffrom tt=11s
11 tto tt=16s
16 ?
ν (t ) = −4.2540 + 21.266t + 0.13204 2 + 0.0054347t 3 ,10 ≤ t ≤ 22.5
16
s (16 ) − s (11) = ∫ v(t )dt
11

( )
16
= ∫ − 4.2540 + 21.266t + 0.13204t 2 + 0.0054347 t 3 dt
11
16
⎡ t2 t3 t4 ⎤
= ⎢− 4.2540t + 21.266 + 0.13204 + 0.0054347 ⎥
⎣ 2 3 4 ⎦11
= 1605 m

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 Acceleration from Velocity Profile
Find
i d theh acceleration
l i off theh rocket
k at t=16s16 giveni that
h
ν (t ) = −4.2540 + 21.266t + 0.13204 2 + 0.0054347t 3 ,10 ≤ t ≤ 22.5

a (t ) = v(t )
d
dt
=
d
dt
(
− 4.2540 + 21.266t + 0.13204t 2 + 0.0054347 t 3 )
= 21.289 + 0.26130t + 0.016382t 2 , 10 ≤ t ≤ 22.5

a(16 ) = 21.266 + 0.26408(16 ) + 0.016304(16 )

2

= 29.665 m/s 2

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