Interpolation

Tabulated Data:
f x ( ) sin

4
x
|

\
|
|
.
:=
vx
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
:=
i 0 4 .. :=
vy
i
f vx
i
( )
:= vy
0
0.383
0.707
0.924
1
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
=
0 1 2
0
0.5
1
vy
vx
we wish to estimate the y value for an untabulated x value of 0.7 (between 0.5 and 1)
Linear Interpolation:
x .7 :=
x
0
vx
1
:= y
0
vy
1
:= x
1
vx
2
:= y
1
vy
2
:=
y_linear y
0
y
1
y
0

x
1
x
0

x x
0

( )
+ := y_linear 0.512 =
y
t
f x ( ) := y
t
0.522499 =

t
y
t
y_linear
y
t
:=
t
1.923 % =
MathCAD method:
linterp vx vy , .7 , ( ) 0.51245 = Format-Result to 5 decimal places
Quadratic Interpolation:
x
2
vx
3
:= y
2
vy
3
:=
adding another tabulated point
y_quadratic y_linear
y
2
y
1

x
2
x
1

y
1
y
0

x
1
x
0

x
2
x
0

x x
0

( )
x x
1

( )
+ := y_quadratic 0.525 =

t
y
t
y_quadratic
y
t
:=
t
0.55 % =
Cubic Interpolation:
x
3
vx
4
:= y
3
vy
4
:=
adding another tabulated point
fdd1 x
i
x
j
,
( )
f x
i
( )
f x
j
( )

x
i
x
j

:=
fdd2 x
i
x
j
, x
k
,
( )
fdd1 x
i
x
j
,
( )
fdd1 x
j
x
k
,
( )

x
i
x
k

:=
fdd3 x
3
x
2
, x
1
, x
0
,
( )
fdd2 x
3
x
2
, x
1
,
( )
fdd2 x
2
x
1
, x
0
,
( )

x
3
x
0

:=
b
0
f x
0
( )
:= b
0
0.383 =
b
1
fdd1 x
1
x
0
,
( )
:= b
1
0.649 =
b
2
fdd2 x
2
x
1
, x
0
,
( )
:= b
2
0.215 =
b
3
fdd3 x
3
x
2
, x
1
, x
0
,
( )
:= b
3
0.044 =
y_linear b
0
b
1
x x
0

( )
+ := y_linear 0.512 =
y_quadratic y_linear b
2
x x
0

( )
x x
1

( )
+ :=
y_quadratic 0.525 =
y_cubic y_quadratic b
3
x x
0

( )
x x
1

( )
x x
2

( )
+ :=
y_cubic 0.523 =

t
y
t
y_cubic
y
t
:=
t
0.145 % =
Alternative (full) equation:
use
CTRL+Enter
to continue
a line
y_cubic b
0
b
1
x x
0

( )
+ b
2
x x
0

( )
x x
1

( )
+
b
3
x x
0

( )
x x
1

( )
x x
2

( )
+
... :=
y_cubic 0.52326 =
Lagrange Interpolating Polynomials:
vx 0.5 1 1.5 2 ( )
T
:=
L vx i , x , n , ( ) L 1
L L
x vx
j

( )
vx
i
vx
j

( )
j i = if
j 0 n .. e for
:=
checking some of the Lagrange factors [Li(x)=1 for x=xi; Li(x)=0 at x = xj where j<>i]:
L vx 0 , vx
0
, 1 ,
( )
1 = L vx 0 , vx
1
, 2 ,
( )
0 = L vx 2 , vx
2
, 3 ,
( )
1 = L vx 2 , vx
3
, 3 ,
( )
0 =
Lagrange_poly n vx , x , ( )
0
n
i
L vx i , x , n , ( ) f vx
i
( )

( )

=
:=
Lagrange_poly 1 vx , .7 , ( ) 0.51245 =
Lagrange_poly 2 vx , .7 , ( ) 0.52537 =
Lagrange_poly 3 vx , .7 , ( ) 0.52326 =
Finding Coefficients of an Interpolation Polynomial:
f x ( ) a
0
a
1
x + a
2
x
2
+ a
3
x
3
+ =
1
1
1
1
x
0
x
1
x
2
x
3
x
0
( )
2
x
1
( )
2
x
2
( )
2
x
3
( )
2
x
0
( )
3
x
1
( )
3
x
2
( )
3
x
3
( )
3

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

a
0
a
1
a
2
a
3
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.

y
0
y
1
y
2
y
3
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
=
x
0.5
1
1.5
2
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
.
:= i 0 3 .. := y
i
f x
i
( )
:= y
0.383
0.707
0.924
1
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
.
=
j 0 3 .. :=
A
i j ,
x
i
( )
j
:=
A
1
1
1
1
0.5
1
1.5
2
0.25
1
2.25
4
0.125
1
3.375
8
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
.
=
a
0
a
1
a
2
a
3
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
A
1
y
0
y
1
y
2
y
3
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
:=
a
0
a
1
a
2
a
3
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
0.016
0.851
0.083
0.044
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
.
=
f x ( )
i
a
i
x
i

|
\
|
.

:=
f .7 ( ) 0.52326 =
same result as Newton and Lagrange
cubic interpolations (because the
polynomial is unique)
Comparing the cubic polynomial fit to the tabulated data and the theoretical function:
xr .5 .51 , 2 .. := f
t
x ( ) sin

4
x
|

\
|
|
.
:=
0.5 1 1.5 2
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
y
f
t
xr ( )
f xr ( )
x xr , xr ,