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See also:INTERPOLATION (from See also:Lat. interpolare, to alter, or insert something fresh, connected with pollee, a See also:polish) , in See also:mathematics, the See also:process of obtaining intermediate terms of a See also:series of which particular terms only are given. The cubes, for instance, shown in the second See also:column of the accompanying table, may Number. See also:Cube of Number. 0 0 I I 2 8 3 27 4 64 5 125 6 216 be regarded as terms of a series, and the cube of a fractional number, not exceeding the last number in the first column, may be found by interpolation. The process of obtaining the cube of a number exceeding the last number in the first column would be extrapolation; the formulae which apply to interpolation apply in theory to extrapolation, but in practice See also:special precautions as to accuracy are necessary. The See also:present See also:article deals only with interpolation. The See also:term is usually limited to those cases in 'which there are two quantities, x and u, which are so related that when x has any arbitrary value, lying perhaps between certain limits, the value of is is determinate. There is a given series of associated values of u and of x, and interpolation consists in determining the value of u for any arbitrary value of x, or the value of x for any arbitrary value of u, lying between two of the values in the series. Either of the two quantities may be regarded as a See also:function of the' other; it is convenient to treat one, x, as the " See also:independent variable," the other, u, being treated as the " dependent variable," i.e. as a function of x. If, as is usually the See also:case, the successive values of one of the quantities proceed by a See also:constant increment, this quantity is to be regarded as the independent variable. The two series of values may be tabulated, those of x being placed in a column (or See also:row), and those of u in a parallel column (or row); a is then said to be tabulated in terms of x. The independent variable x is called the See also:argument, and the dependent variable a is called the entry. Interpolation, in the See also:ordinary sense, consists in determining the value of u for a value of x intermediate between two values appearing in the table. This may be described as See also:direct interpolation, to distinguish it from inverse interpolation, which consists in determining the value of x for a value of u intermediate between two in the table. The methods employed can be extended to cases in which the value of a depends on the values of two or more independent quantities a' y, In the ordinary case we may regard the values of x as measured along a straight See also:line OX from a fixed point 0, so that to any value of x there corresponds a point on the line. If we represent the corresponding value of a by an See also:ordinate See also:drawn from the line, the extremities of all such ordinates will See also:lie on a See also:curve which will be the graph of a with regard to :c. Interpolation therefore consists in determining the length of the ordinate of a curve occupying a particular position, when the lengths of ordinates occupying certain specified positions are known. If a is a function of two variables, x and y, we may similarly represent it by the ordinate of a See also:surface, the position of the ordinate being determined by the values of x and of y jointly. The series or tables to which interpolation has to be applied may for convenience be regarded as falling into two See also:main See also:groups. The first See also:group comprises mathematical tables, i.e. tables of mathematical functions; in the case of such a table the value of the function u for each tabulated value of x is calculated to a known degree of accuracy, and the degree of accuracy of an interpolated value of u can be estimated. The second group comprises tables of values which are found experimentally. e.g. values of a See also:physical quantity or of a statistical ratio; these values are usually subject to certain " errors " of observation or of See also:random selection (see See also:PROBABILITY). The methods of interpolation are usually the same in the two groups of cases, but special considerations have to be taken into See also:account in the second group. The line of demarcation of the two groups is not absolutely fixed; the tables used by actuaries, for instance, which are of See also:great importance in See also:practical See also:life, are based on statistical observations, but the tables formed directly from the observations have been " smoothed " so as to obtain series which correspond in See also:form to the series of values of mathematical functions. It must be assumed, at any See also:rate in the case of a mathematical function, that the " entry " u varies continuously with the " argument " x, i.e. that there are no sudden breaks, changes of direction, &c., in the curve which is the graph of u. Various methods of interpolation are described below. The simplest is that which uses the principle of proportional parts; and mathematical tables are usually arranged so as to enable this method to be employed. Where this is not possible, the methods are based either on the use of See also: INTERPOLATION FROM MATHEMATICAL TABLES A. Direct Interpolation. I. Interpolation by First Differences.—The simplest cases are those in which the first difference in u is constant, or nearly so. For example: Example r.—(u =See also:log lox). Example 2.—(u =log lox). x. u. 1 st Diff. + 4.341 '6375898 moo 4.342 .6376898 See also:I000 4.343 '6377898 moo 4'344 .6378898 I000 4.345.6379898 In Example the first difference of a corresponding to a difference of hm•ooi in x is •000i000; but, since we are working throughout to seven places of decimals, it is more convenient to write it 1000. This See also:system of ignoring the decimal point in dealing with differences will be adopted throughout this article. To find u for an inter-mediate value of x we assume the principle of proportional parts, i.e. we assume that the difference in u is proportional to the difference in x. Thus for x=4'342945 the difference in u is •945 of moo =945, so that a is •6376898+.0000945='6377843. For x=4.34294482 the difference in u would be 944'82, so that the value of u would apparently be .6376898+.000094482 = .637784282. This, however. would be incorrect. It must be remembered that the values of u are only given " correct to seven places of decimals," i.e. each x. u. 1st Diff. I-- 7'40 .86923 59 7'41 •86982 58 7'42 .87040 59 7'43 .87099 58 7'44 '87157 tabulated value differs from the corresponding true value by a See also:tabular See also:error which may have any value up to t a of .0000001 ; and we cannot therefore by interpolation obtain a result which is correct to nine places. If the interpolated value of u has to be used in calculations for which it is important that this value should be as accurate as possible, it may be convenient to retain it temporarily in the form .6376898+944 82=.6377842 82 or .6376898+94432= .6J77842g2; but we must ultimately return to the seven-See also:place arrangement and write it as •6377843. The result of interpolation by first difference is thus usually subject to two inaccuracies, the first being the tabular error of u itself, and the second being See also:clue to the See also:necessity of adjusting the final figure of the added (proportional) difference. If the tabulated values are correct to seven places of decimals, the interpolated value, with the final figure adjusted, will be within •000000l of its true value. In Example 2 the differences do not at first sight appear to run regularly, but this is only due to the fact that the final figure in each value of a represents, as explained in the last See also:paragraph, an approximation to the true value. The See also:general principle on which we proceed is the same; but we use the actual difference corresponding to the See also:interval in which the value of x lies. Thus for x=7.41373 we should have u=.86982+(•373 of 58)=•87004; this result being correct within .00001. 2. Interpolation by Second Differences.—If the consecutive first differences of a are not approximately equal, we must take account of the next order of differences. For example: Example 3.—(u = log ,ox). In such a case the advancing-difference formula is generally used. The notation is as follows. The series of values of x and of u are respectively xo, xi, x2, . . . and uo, u2, . ; and the successive differences of a are denoted by Au, 6.2u, . . . Thus Auo denotes u,—uo, and a2uo denotes Au,—Auo=u2—2u,+uo. The value of x for which a is sought is supposed to lie between xo and xi. If we write it equal to xo+B(xi—xo) =xo+Bh, so that 0 lies between o and 1, we may denote it by x9, and the corresponding value of a by u9. We have then 0(1—0) 0(1—0)(2—0) See also:Ito=uo+Bauo— 2i A2uo+ i —a8ato—... (i). 3! Tables of the values of the coefficients of a2uo and A3uo to three places of decimals for various values of 0 from o to I are given in the ordinary collections of mathematical tables; but the formula is not really convenient if we have to go beyond a2uo, or if a2uo itself contains more than two significant figures. To apply the formula to Example 3 for x=6.277, we have 8= •77, so that u9 = •79239+('77 of 695)—0)89 of —II) =.79239+ 535 15+0 98 = '79775. Here, as elsewhere, we use two extra figures in the intermediate calculations, for the purpose of adjusting the final figure in the ultimate result. 3. Taylor's Theorem.—Where differences beyond the second are involved, Taylor's Theorem is useful. This theorem (see INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS) gives the formula B ' uo=uo+c,B-;-c22~+e33!+. .. (2), where, cis c2, c3, . are the values for x=xo of the first, second, third, . . . differential coefficients of u with regard to x. The values of c,, c2, . . can occasionally be calculated from the See also:analytical expressions for the differential coefficients of u; but more generally they have to be calculated from the tabulated differences. For this purpose central-difference formulae are the best. If we write µSuo = (Au°+Au_,) 52uo = A2u_i µb8u0 =I(A31t_1+a3a—2 (3), &c. so that, if (as in §§ I and 2) each difference is placed opposite the space between the two quantities of which it is the difference, the expressions 62uo, S4uo, . . . denote the differences of even order in a See also:horizontal line with uo, and µSuo, µ53u0, . denote the means of the differences of See also:odd order immediately below and above this line, then (see DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF) the values of c1, e2r are given by cl =µSee also:Otto — sµI3Uo + 21oµ55uo — See also:rib µ57u0+ .. . c2 = 52uo — 4'254ito+510S02to — 5-6 ob$uo+ . . c3=µ53ue—jµ55uo+i soLI7Uo-- ... c4=b1Uo—bs1°uoµ571 F40S3uo—... co =µ55U0—4u0+ .. . co=5ouo68uo+... If a calculating See also:machine is used, the formula (2) is most conveniently written u9 = uo+PIB P, =c,+ 4 P20 P2 = ci+P3B Using 0 as the multiplicand in each case, the successive expressions . P3, P2, P1, uo are easily calculated. As an example, take u= tan x to five places of decimals, the values of x proceeding by a difference of I°. It will be found that the following is See also:part of the table: Example 4.--(it =tan x). x. u. 1st Diff. 2nd Diff. 3rd Diff. 4th Diff. + + + + 65° 2.14451 732 16 66° 2.24604 10153 828 96 19 I0981 115 67° 2'35585 943 18 To find a forx=66°23',we have 8=23/60=•3833333. The following shows the full working: in actual practice it would be abbreviated. The operations commence on the right-See also:hand See also:side. It will be noticed that two extra figures are retained throughout. uo. µ0u0. 322,0. µ03u0. S4uo. 2.24604 --loo67°0 --8.,800 +ios5o _1I,00 _ l l c3 - 1_'s --- ci°+1054942 c2=+8261-' c3—I 10.550 ,4=+X900 P19=-{-410507 _P29=-f- 1602 3P30=-1- 1371 1N2 ue=2.28710 P1=+1071044 P2—+840,3 P3= {-lo7'' The value 2.2870967, obtained by retaining the extra figures, is correct within .7 of •0000i (§ 8), so that 2.28710 is correct within •o000I I. In applying this method to mathematical tables, it is desirable, on account of the tabular error, that the differences taken into account in (4) should end with a difference of even order. If, e.g. we use µ53u0 in calculating c,, and c3, we ought also to use Vito for calculating c2 and c4, even though the term due to S4uo would be negligible if S4uo were known exactly. 4. Geometrical and Algebraical See also:Interpretation.—In applying the principle of proportional parts, in such a case as that of Example i, we in effect treat the graph of u as a straight line. We see that the extremities of a number of consecutive ordinates lie approximately in a straight line: ie. that, if the values are correct within tZp, a straight line passes through points which are within a corresponding distance of the actual extremities of the ordinates; and we assume that-this is true for intermediate ordinates. Algebraically we treat u as being of the form A+Bx, where A and B are constants deter-See also:mined by the values of u at the extremities of the interval through which we interpolate. In using first and second differences we treat u as being of the form A+Bx+C.x'2; i.e. we pass a See also:parabola (with See also:axis See also:vertical) through the extremities of three consecutive ordinates, and consider that this is the graph of u, to the degree of accuracy given by the data. Similarly in using differences of a higher order we replace the graph by a curve whose See also:equation is of the form u =A+Bx+Cx2+Dx3+ . . . The various forms that interpolation-formulae take are due to the various principles on which ordinates are selected for determining the values of A, B, C . . B. Inverse Interpolation. 5. To find the value of x when u is given, i.e. to find the value of 0 when uo is given, we use the same formula as for direct interpolation, but proceed (if differences beyond the first are involved) by successive approximation. Taylor's Theorem, for instance, gives 0 =(u9—u0)—(c,+...) =(a9—no)=P, (6), x. 6o 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 U. .77815 •78533 •79239 • 79934 •8o6i8 .81291 1st Diff. +718 +706 +695 +684 +673 2nd Diff. — I2 — II — II —II We first find an approximate value for 0: then calculate PI, and find by (6) a more accurate value of 0; then, if necessary, recalculate PI, and thence 0, and so on. II. CONSTRUCTION OF TABLES BY SUBDIVISION OF INTERVALS 6. When the values of u have been tabulated for values of x proceeding by a difference h, it is often desirable to deduce a table In which the differences of x are h/n, where n is an integer. If n is even it may be advisable to form an intermediate table in which the intervals are 4h. For this purpose we have u} = s (Uo+UI) U=u-852u+i!654u-i-Ala6u+.. . =u-e(b2u-'cfb'u-za(56u-...)}] The following is an example; the data are the values of tan x to five places of decimals, the interval in x being I °. The differences of odd order are omitted for convenience of See also:printing. Example 5. = i u-tan x. 52u. See also:Sou. 56u. U. vualuesmeanof Uof. x. x. + + + 73° 3.27o85 2339 100 5 3.26794 95 3'37594 731° 740 3.48741 2808 132 23 3.48392 9 8 ' 3.60588 744° 75° 3.73205 3409 187 18 . 3.72783 17 3.86671 754-4° 76° 4.01078 4197 260 51 4.00559 22 77° 4'33148 5245 384 64 4'32501 07 4'16530 762° If a new table is formed from these values, the intervals being 2°, it will be found that differences beyond the See also:fourth are negligible. To subdivide 11 into smaller intervals than 4h, various methods may be used. One is to calculate the sets of quantities which in the new table will be the successive differences, corresponding to uo, uI, . . . and to find the intermediate terms by successive additions. A better method is to use a formula due to J. D. See also:Everett. If we write 0=1 -0, Everett's formula is, in its most symmetrical form, ue=But++1)0'0-1)42 +(0+2)(0+1)010-1)(O-2)54uI+... 3• 5• +duo+(0+1)3(-1)52110+(0+2)(0+1)5 (0-I)((A -2)54uo+... For actual calculations a less symmetrical form may be used. Denoting (0+1)0(0-I)S214+(0+2)(O+1)0(0-1)(0-2)b4ut+... (io) 3! 5! by WI, we have, for interpolation between uo and uI, as=ur:-I-O uo+OVI+1_OVo (II), the successive values of 0 being 1/n, 2/n, .. (n-I)/n. For interpolation between ui and u2 we have, with the same See also:succession of values of 0, ut.e=uI+eVI, V2+1_eVI - (12). The values of I-eVi in (12) are exactly the same as those of WI in (II), but in the See also:reverse order. The process is therefore that (i.) we find the successive values of uo+0 uo, &c., i.e. we construct a table, with the required intervals of x, as if we had only to take first differences into account; (ii.) we construct, in a parallel column, a table giving the values of eVI, &c.; (iii.) we repeat these latter values, placing the set belonging to each interval h in the interval next following it, and See also:writing the values in the reverse order; and (iv.) by adding horizontally we get the final values for the new table. As an example, take the values of tan x by intervals of in x, as found above (Ex. 5). The first See also:diagram below is a portion of this table, with the differences, and the second shows the calculation of the terms of (II) so as to get a table in which the intervals are 0.1 of I°. The last column but one in the second diagram is introduced for convenience of calculation. Example 6. x. u = tan x. bu. btu. b'u. 184u. + + + +11147 • 62 740.0 3'48741 700 8 11847 7 0 74°'5 3.60588 770 9 12617 79 - i x uo+ODuo eVI. t_eVo. BVI f I~Vo. u. . 73°.6 -22 35 . 73°'7 -39 11 73°'8 -44 71 730.9'0 -33 54 74 3'48741 00 3.48741 74°.1 13.51110 40 -24 58 -33 54 -58 12 3.51052 74°.2 3.53479 8o -43 02 -44 71 -87 73 3'53392 74° 3 355849 20 -49 18 -39 I I -88 29 3'55761 74 '4 6o -36 89 -22 35 -59 24 3'5$159 740-5 3'60588 8 3.60588 3'5821 00 The following are the values of the coefficients of tit, Put, 54u1, and S6ui in (9) for certain values of n. For calculating the four terms due to b'ut in the case of n=5 it should be noticed that the third term is twice the first, the fourth is the mean of the first and the third, and the second is the mean of the third and the fourth. In table 1, and in the last column of table 2, the coefficients are corrected in the last figure. CO. U. Co. U. CO. 54U. CO. ~6U. •2 .032 .006336 .00135168 =I/74o approx. •4 •056 .010752 '00226304 =1/442 6 .064 .011648 •00239616 =1/417 8 .048 .008064 •00160512 =1/623 ,, • TABLE 2.-n=10. CO. U. CO. 52u. CO. 54u. CO. 56u. + - + - •1 •oi65 .00329175 •000704591 •2 •0320 .00633600 •001351680 '3 .0455 .00889525 •001887064 •4 •0560 .01075200 '002263040 .5 •o625 .01171875 •002441406 •o64o •01164800 •002396160 '7 '0595 •01044225 •002115799 •8 .0480 .00806400 •001605120 '9 .0285 .00454575 .000886421 co. u. Co. 52u. co. 54u. co. Yu. 1/12 .013792438 .002753699 .000589623 2/12 •027006173 .005363726 •001145822 3/12 .039062500 .007690430 •001636505 4/12 .049382716 •009602195 •002032211 5/12 .057388117 .010979463 •002307357 6/12 .062500000 •011718750 •002441406 7/12 .064139660 .011736667 .002419911 8/12 •061728395 '010973937 .002235432 9/12 .054687500 •009399414 .001888275 10/12 .042438272 .007014103 .001387048 11/12 •024402006 .003855178 •000748981 7. Derivation of Formulae.-The advancing-difference formula (I) may be written, in the symbolical notation of finite differences, ue=(1+A)°uo=E°uo (13); and it is an See also:extension of the theorem that if n is a See also:positive integer ua=uo+nAuo+nl Zi I)~2uo+... (14), the series being continued until the terms vanish. The formula (14) is identically true: the formula (13) or (I) is only formally true, but its applicability to See also:concrete cases is due to the fact that the series in (i), when taken for a definite number of terms, differs from the true value of u° by a " See also:remainder" which in most cases is very small when this definite number of terms is properly chosen. Everett's formula (9), and the central-difference formula obtained by substituting from (4) in (2), are modifications of a See also:standard formula 1B=uo+05uliOr 21 I)b2uo+(0+113'0-1)53uI+ (0+I)O(07I)(O-2)SquO+... (I. 4i where (8). ( which may similarly be regarded as an extension of the theorem only from x-=-6o° to x=8o°, we could then See also:complete the table of that, if n is a positive integer, differences by making the entries shown in italics below. nnZtO+nSnz~-n(n-I)SZUO-I-(n-l-I)n(n-I)S3ul+ ... (16). 21 3t a There are other central-difference formulae besides those mentioned above; the general symbolical expression is u9 = (cosh OhD+sinh 0hD)u,5 cosh ZhD=µ, sinh 2hD=28 8. See also:Comparative Accuracy.-Central-difference formulae are usually more accurate than advancing-difference formulae, whether we consider the inaccuracy due to omission of the " remainder " mentioned in the last paragraph or the error due to the approxi• mative See also:character of the tabulated values. The latter is the more important. If each tabulated value of u is within Zp of the corresponding true value, and if the differences used in the formulae are the tabular differences, i.e. the actual successive differences of the tabulated values of u, then the ratio of the limit of error of u5, as calculated from the first r terms of the series in (I), to ap is the sum of the first r terms of the series I+o+0(I -0)+0(1-0)(2-0)+hO(I -0)(2-0)(3-0)+ '-,0(1-0)(2-0)(3-0)(4-0)+s'sae(I -0) ... (5-8)~- ., while the corresponding ratio for the use of differences up to 52puo inclusive in (4) or up to 82pu1 and o'puo in (9) (i.e. in effect, up to 629+'u;) is the sum of the first p+t terms of the series 1+0(I -0)+(1+0)0(1-0)(2-0)+ . (21)2 (2+0)(1+0)0(1 i 0)(2--0)(3-0)+ ...; (3•) it -being supposed in each case that 0 lies between o and 1. The following table gives a comparison of the respective limits of error; the lines I. and II. give the errors due to the advancing-difference and the central-difference formulae, and the coefficient p is omitted throughout. Error due to use of Differences up to and including 1st. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th. I. .500 •625 .813 I•o86 1.497 2.132 3'147 ' 5 II. .500 •625 .625 •696 .696 •745 •745 I. '500 . 1 3.042 1 II . 5 •58o .58o 624 1.624 6S353 6 ~3 5 5 .624 .624 I. •500 .620 .812 I•I04 1 .553 2.265 3.422 '4 II. I •500 •62o .620 •688 •688 .734 .734 I. •500 .620 .788 1.024 1.366 1.886 2.700 6 II. •500 •62o .62o •688 •688 .734 .734 1 8 I. .500 .580 .676 •800 .969 I.213 I.582 II. .500 .580 .580 •624 '624 .653 •653 In some cases the differences tabulated are not the tabular differences, but the corrected differences; i.e. each difference, like each value of u, is correct within Zp. It does not follow that these differences should be used for interpolation. Whatever formula is employed, the first difference should always be the tabular first difference, not the corrected first difference; and, further, if a central-difference formula is used, each difference of odd order should be the tabular difference of the corrected differences of the next See also:lower order. (This last result is indirectly achieved if Everett's formula is used.) With these precautions (i.) the central-difference formula is slightly improved by using corrected instead of tabular differences, and (ii.) the advancing-difference formula is greatly improved, being better than the central-difference formula with tabular differences, but still not so See also:good as the latter with corrected differences. For e= .5, for instance, supposing we have to go to fifth differences, the limits 1.497 and •696, as given above, become t •627 and $ '575 respectively. 9. Completion of Table of Differences.-If no values of u outside the range within which we have to interpolate are given, the series of differences will be incomplete at both ends. It may be continued in each direction by treating as constant the extreme difference of the highest order involved; and central-difference formulae can then be employed uniformly throughout the whole range. Suppose, for instance, that the values of tan x in § 6 extendedExample 7. x. u = tan x. 5u. Stu. S3u. 64u. Sbu. S6u. + + -F + + + 6775 34 6o° 1.73205 425 9 7200 43 61° 1.80405 468 9 7668 52 62° 1.88073 520 9 8188 61 63° 1.96261 581 to 8769 71 64° 2.05030 652 9 75° 3'73205 3409 187 18 27873 788 73 76° 4.01078 4197 26o 51 32070 1048 124 77° 4'33148 5245 384 64 37315 1432 188 78° 4.70463 6677 572 64 43992 2004 252 79° 5.14455 8681 824 64 52673 2828 316 8o° 5.67128 11509 1146 64 64182 3968 38o For interpolating between x=60° and x=61° we should obtain the same result by applying Everett's formula to this table as by using the advancing-difference formula; and similarly at the other end for the receding differences. Interpolation by Substituted Tabulation. to. The relation of u to x may be such that the successive differences of u increase rapidly, so that interpolation-formulae cannot be employed directly. Other methods have then to be used. The best method is to replace u by some expression v which is a function of u such that (i.) the value of v or of u can be determined for any given value of u or of v, and (ii.) when v is tabulated in terms of x the differences decrease rapidly. We can then calculate v, and thence u, for any intermediate value of x. If, for instance, we require tan x for a value of x which is nearly 9o°, it will be found that the table of tangents is not suitable for interpolation. We can, however, convert it into a table of cotangents to about the same number of significant figures; from this we can easily calculate cot x, and thence tan x. I. This method is specially suitable for statistical data, where the successive values of u represent the See also:area of a figure of frequency up to successive ordinates. We have first to determine, by inspection, a curve which bears a general similarity to the unknown curve of frequency, and whose area and See also:abscissa are so related that either can be readily calculated with the other is known. This may be called the See also:auxiliary curve. Denoting by g the abscissa of this curve which corresponds to area u, we find the value of l: corresponding to each of the given values of u. Then, tabulating z; in terms of x, we have a table in which, if the auxiliary curve has been well chosen, differences of E after the first or second are negligible. We can therefore find E, and thence u, for any inter-mediate value of x. Extensions. 12. Construction of Formulae.-Any difference of u of the rth order involves r+1 consecutive values of u, and it might be ex-pressed by the suffixes which indicate these values. Thus we might write the table of differences x. u. 1st Diff. 2nd Diff. 3rd Diff. 4th Diff. (- I, o) ( -2, - I, o, I) xa uo (-1, O, I) (-2, -I, 0, I, 2) (o, I) (-I, 0, I, 2) x1 u1 (0, I, 2) (- I, 0, I, 2, 3) (I, 2) (0, I, 2, 3) X2 U2 (I, 2, 3) (0, I, 2, 3, 4) (2, 3) (I, 2, 3, 4) where (17), (18). The formulae (0 and (15) might then be written u=uo+x hx°(o, 1)+x Fx° ' i- -'(o, 1, 2) + x—xo x—xl x—x2(o, 1, 2, 3)+ ... (19), h sh ' 3h %°uo x x0(C,1)x x0 x • 2h I(-1, o, I)-1- x-xo x-xi x It 2h . 3h (-I, 0, 1, 2) + . . . (2o). The general principle on which these formulae are constructed, and which may be used to construct other formulae, is that (i.) we start with any tabulated value of u, (ii.) we pass to the successive differences by steps, each of which may be either downwards or upwards, and (iii.) the new suffix which is introduced at each step determines the new See also:factor (involving x) for use in the next term. For any particular value of x, however, all formulae which end with the same difference of the rth order give the same result, provided tabular differences are used. If, for instance, we go only to first differences, we have xto-~ x hx-(o, 1) =ui-I-x hx'(0, i) identically. 13. Ordinates not Equidistant.—When the successive ordinates in the graph of u are not equidistant, i.e. when the differences of successive values of x are not equal, the above principle still applies, provided the differences are adjusted in a particular way. Let the values of x for which u is tabulated be a=xo+ah, b=xo+Gh, c=xo+ yh, . . . Then the table becomes Adjusted Differences. x. u. 1st Diff. 2nd Diff_ &c. a=x° u° (a, /3) b=xp up (a, l3, y) 7) c=xy uy In this table, however, (a, /3) does not mean up -u°, but (up -u°) (/3—a); (a, /3, y) means {((3, y)-•(a, /3)1=(7—a); and, generally any quantity ('q, . . . ¢) in the column headed " rth diff." is obtained by dividing the difference of the adjoining quantities in the preceding column by (4--,i)jr. If the table is formed in this way, we may apply the principle of § I2 so as to obtain formulae such as u=u°+x —ha . (a, (3)+x h a x2b • (a,/3, y)+ ... (21), u=uy+ h x cc . (R, y)+xh c . xzhb (a, Q, y)+ ... (22). The following example illustrates the method, h being taken to be 1 Example 8. x. a=See also:sin X. 1st Diff. 2nd Diff. 3rd See also:Dial'. (adjusted). (adjusted). (adjusted). 20° •3420201 162932 50 22° '3746066 1125 00 161245 00 48 75 23° 3907311 1222 50 158800 00 48 30 26° •4383711 1303 00 156194 00 47 49 27° 4539905 1445 47 151857 6o 46 00 32° 5299193 1583 48 145523 67 35° 5735764 To find u for x=31°, we use the values for 26°, 27°, 32° and 35°, and obtain u='4383711004156194 00)+I • 2(-144547)+ 5 4 1 . 2 . -4600)•5150380, 1 3 which is only wrong in the last figure. (l —a) (l —b) (l—c) .ua (23). This is known as See also:Lagrange's formula, but it is said to be due to See also:Euler. It is not convenient for practical use, since it does not show how many terms have to be taken in any particular case. 14. Interpolation from Tables of See also:Double Entry.—When u is a function of x and y, and is tabulated in terms of x and of y jointly, its calculation for a pair of values not given in the table may be effected either directly or by first forming a table of values of u in terms of y for the particular value of x and then determining u from this table for the particular value of y. For direct interpolation, consider that A represents differencing by changing x into x+i, and A' differencing by changing y into y+I. Then the formula is uz,y= (1+o)s(i+. ')ouo,o; and the right-hand side can be See also:developed in whatever form is most convenient for the particular case. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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