Open Educational Resources

Mathematica Lab Tutorials: Lab 10

Lab Questions

Consider the following integral

    \[ \mbox{erf}(a)=\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi}}\int_{0}^{a}e^{-x^2}\,\mathrm{d}x \]

with a=1.5

  • Use the built-in numerical integration “NIntegrate” function to calculate an approximation to the true value of the integral. Consider this to be the true value.
  • Plot \mbox{erf}(a) for y\in[-2,2]
  • Using the midpoint rectangle rule, provide a table with the following columns: n,h,I_2,|E| with n=1,2,4,8,16,…,128
  • Using the trapezoidal rule, provide a table with the following columns: n,h,I_T,|E| with n=1,2,4,8,16,…,128
  • Using Simpson’s 1/3 rule, provide a table with the following columns: n,h,I_S1,|E| with n=1,2,4,8,16,…,128
  • Using Simpson’s 3/8 rule, provide a table with the following columns: n,h,I_S2,|E| with n=1,2,4,8,16,…,128
  • Comment on the accuracy obtained using each method.

Video Tutorials

Midpoint, Terapezoidal, Simpson’s 1/3, and Simpson’s 3/8 rules



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