UC Berkeley Math W128A: Homework 1

Prof. Per-Olof Persson (persson@[Link])

MATLAB usage classification: PEN (pen and paper only), CALC (use as calculator), CODE (run codes).

0. Please assign yourself a self grade on this homework (0, 1, or 2) based off the guidelines in the syllabus.
1. (1.1-1c, CALC) Show that the following equation has at least one solution in the given intervals:

2x cos(2x) − (x − 2)2 = 0, [2, 3] and [3, 4].

2. (1.1-5a, PEN) Find max0≤x≤1 |f (x)| when f (x) = (2 − ex + 2x)/3.

3. (1.1-16, CALC) Use the error term of a Taylor polynomial to estimate the error involved in using
sin x ≈ x to approximate sin 1◦ .

4. (1.1-19, CALC) Let f (x) = ex and x0 = 0. Find the nth Taylor polynomial Pn (x) for f (x) about x0 .
Find a value of n necessary for Pn (x) to approximate f (x) to within 10−6 on [0, 0.5].

5. (1.1-22, PEN) Use the Intermediate Value Theorem and Rolle’s theorem to show that the graph of
f (x) = x3 + 2x + k crosses the x-axis exactly once, regardless of the value of the constant k.

6. (1.1-29b, PEN) Suppose that f is continuous on [a, b], that x1 and x2 are in [a, b], and that c1 and c2
are positive constants. Show that a number ξ exists between x1 and x2 with

c1 f (x1 ) + c2 f (x2 )
f (ξ) = .
c1 + c2

7. (1.2-1a/2d, CALC) Compute the absolute error and relative error in approximations of p by p∗ :
1a. p = π, p∗ = 22/7
√
2d. p = 9!, p∗ = 18π(9/e)9

8. (1.2-5c, CALC) Perform the following computation (i) exactly, (ii) using three-digit chopping arith-
metic, and (iii) using three-digit rounding arithmetic. (iv) Compute the relative errors in parts (ii)
and (iii).  
1 3 3
− +
3 11 20

9. (1.2-11, CALC) The first three nonzero terms of the Maclaurin series for the arctangent function are
x − (1/3)x3 + (1/5)x5 . Compute the absolute error and relative error in the following approximations
of π using the polynomial in place of the arctangent:
a.     
1 1
4 arctan + arctan
2 3
b.    
1 1
16 arctan − 4 arctan
5 239

10. (1.2-14, CALC) Let

ex − e−x
f (x) =
x
a. Find limx→0 (ex − e−x ) /x.
b. Use three-digit rounding arithmetic to evaluate f (0.1).

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 c. Replace each exponential function with its third Maclaurin polynomial, simplify, and repeat part
(b).
d. The actual value is f (0.1) = 2.003335000. Find the relative error for the values obtained in parts
(b) and (c).

11. (1.2-19/20cd, CALC, use Wolfram Alpha for exact decimal numbers) Use the 64-bit long real format
to find the decimal equivalent of the following floating-point machine numbers. Find the next largest
and smallest machine numbers in decimal form for these numbers.

c. 0 01111111111 0101001100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
d. 0 01111111111 0101001100000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
P10 1
1/i2 first by + 14 +


12. (1.3-1a, CODE) Use three-digit chopping arithmetic to compute the sum i=1 1
1 1 1
··· + 100 and then by 100 + 81 + · · · + 11 . Which method is more accurate, and why?

13. (1.3-6, PEN) Find the rates of convergence of the following sequences as n → ∞
a. limn→∞ sin n1 = 0
b. limn→∞ sin n12 = 0

2
c. limn→∞ sin n1 = 0
d. limn→∞ [ln(n + 1) − ln(n)] = 0

14. (1.3-7, PEN) Find the rates of convergence of the following functions as h → 0
a. limh→0 sinh h = 1
b. limh→0 1−cosh
h
=0
sin h−h cos h
c. limh→0 h =0
1−eh
d. limh→0 h = −1

15. (1.3-11, PEN) The sequence {Fn } described by F0 = 1, F1 = 1, and Fn+2 = Fn + Fn+1 , if n ≥ 0, is
called a Fibonacci sequence. Its terms occur naturally in many botanical species, particularly those
√ the sequence {xn } , where
with petals or scales arranged in the form of a logarithmic spiral. Consider
xn = Fn+1 /Fn Assuming that limn→∞ xn = x exists, show that x = (1 + 5)/2. This number is called
the golden ratio.
√
16. (2.1-1, CALC) Use the Bisection method to find p3 for f (x) = x − cos x on [0,1].
17. (2.1-12, CODE) Let f (x) = (x + 2)(x + 1)2 x(x − 1)3 (x − 2). To which zero of f does the Bisection
method converge when applied on the following intervals?
a. [−1.5, 2.5]
b. [−0.5, 2.4]
c. [−0.5, 3]
d. [−3, −0.5]

18. (2.1-17, CALC) Use Theorem 2.1 to find a bound for the number of iterations needed to achieve an
approximation with accuracy 10−4 to the solution of x3 − x − 1 = 0 lying in the interval [1, 2]. Find an
approximation to the root with this degree of accuracy.

19. (2.2-5bd, CODE) The following methods are proposed to compute 211/3 . Rank them in order, based
on their apparent speed of convergence, assuming p0 = 1.
p3 −21
b. pn = pn−1 − n−1
3p2
 1/2 n−1
21
d. pn = pn−1

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20. (2.2-13abf, CALC to find interval and number of iterations, CODE to compute the approximations)
For each of the following equations, determine an interval [a, b] on which fixed-point iteration will
converge. Estimate the number of iterations necessary to obtain approximations accurate to within
10−5 , and perform the calculations.
x 2
a. x = 2−e 3+x
b. x = x52 + 2
f. x = 0.5(sin x + cos x)

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