FIND THE VOLUME OF GOLD

REQUIRED FOR A SOLID GOLD

PRISMATIC BUTTERFLY
SCULPTURE

By

Maurice Yap
Peter Symonds College

Report for the Numerical Methods module of OCR AS/A Level GCE Further Mathematics (MEI)
February 2015

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Problem specification ..........................................................................1
2. Strategy ...............................................................................................1
2.1. Trapezium rule......................................................................................................................................... 2
2.2. MId-point rule ......................................................................................................................................... 2

3. Working ............................................................................................. 4
4. Error analysis ..................................................................................... 7
5. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 9
6. Reference List .................................................................................. 10
7. Bibliography ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
8. Appendices ........................................................................................ 11

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Graphic representation of x6+y6=x2 .................................................................................................... 1
Figure 2: Trapezium rule with four strips ......................................................................................................... 3
Figure 3: Mid-point rule with four strips........................................................................................................... 3
Figure 4: A graph of y=(18 x4+2)/(9 (x4-1) (x2-x6)^(5/6)), the second derivative of f(x) ................................ 10

ii

Course unit | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

1.PROBLEM SPECIFICATION
The North Korean dictator has decided to build a butterfly sanctuary in the capital, Pyongyang. He wants a
solid gold sculpture of a butterfly to be built at its entrance. Because gold is expensive, the exact quantity
required must be determined.
Architects have decided that the sculpture will take the shape of a, 18-cm deep butterfly prism, where its
base is modelled by the following implicit equation (known as the butterfly curve), with each unit
representing a metre (Barile & Weisstein 2002):
6 + 6 = 2
This is shown graphically in figure 1. To accommodate for bolts to attach the gold prism to its supporting
plinth, 5cm either end of the prism must be made from a different metal. For the equation to be true, all x
values are in the range [-1, 1]. This means that the x value must be limited to a new domain of [-0.95, 0.95].
The volume of this prism can be calculated by multiplying the depth by the cross sectional area. By
rearranging the implicit equation to have y as the subject, the cross sectional area is an integral with limits
of -0.95 and 0.95. Therefore (in units, metres cubed):
0.95

= 0.18

2 6

0.95

FIGURE 1: GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF X 6 +Y 6 =X 2

2.STRATEGY
Because I am not able to solve the integral using analytical methods (e.g. by parts, substitution), it is
necessary to estimate it using numerical integration methods.
GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

The equation which I must integrate is (rearrangement of original implicit equation):

6

= 2 6
Figure 1 appears to show that the two axes are lines of symmetry. For the y-axis, this can be proven
algebraically:
() :
6

= ()2 ()6 = 2 6
1
Furthermore, for the x-axis:
:
2 6 = 6
() :
6

2 6 = () ()
( 2 6 ) 1
This means that it is possible to integrate just the portion of the curve that is in the positive quadrant, then
multiply it by four in order to calculate the total cross sectional area.
An equivalent formula for the volume of gold required, as deduced from the above, is:
0.95

= 4 0.18

0.95

2 6 = 0.72

2 6

The three methods available to me are the trapezium rule, the mid-point rule and Simpsons rule. For the
sake of simplicity in the explanations, please note that the coefficient of 0.72 is disregarded for the
remainder of section 2.

2.1.TRAPEZIUM RULE
Applying the trapezium rule involves taking the area under the curve and splitting it into several trapezia
with equal width. The sum of the areas gives an approximation to the integrals solution. Figure 2 shows
this with four equal strips of width 0.2375 (0.95 4). It can be seen from the shaded region that this
method gives an under-estimate for the integral. Moreover, it can be deduced that as the number of strips
increases (and so, the thinner each strip is), the extent of the under-estimation given by the total area of the
trapeziums decreases, and in turn, the magnitude of the error in the approximation decreases.

2.2.MID-POINT RULE
The mid-point rule splits the area under the curve into equal-width rectangles, with the centre of the top of
each of these rectangles being a point on the curve. Again, the total area of each of these rectangles
approximates the solution of the integral. Figure 3 shows this rule applied to my integral. This provides an
over-estimate as the curve is well-behaved and is concave (Lissaman & West 2004, p.76).

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

FIGURE 2: TRAPEZIUM RULE WITH FOUR STRIPS

FIGURE 3: MID-POINT RULE WITH FOUR STRIPS

2.3.SIMPSONS RULE
Under the notion that the trapezium rule will always be an underestimate of the integral as the number of
strips increases and the mid-point rule continues to produce over-estimates, upper and lower bounds can
be deduced for the integral. As the number of strips increases, the error (extent to which the area is underor over-estimated) will become less.
Simpsons rule capitalises on this and is an average of these two integration approximations, with the midpoint rule being weighted twice as heavily as the trapezium rule. It is therefore a more accurate
approximation for the area under the curve than the other two approximations. Because its convergence
towards the true value for the area under the curve is derived from two other, also converging
approximations, Simpsons rule converges much quicker and requires less strips, and consequently, fewer
calculations, to produce a more accurate value.

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

3.WORKING
I will first approximate the integral below first using the three numerical methods identified in section 2,
before multiplying it by 0.72 to approximate the volume of gold required for my problem.
0.95

2 6

Hence, the following definition is given:

6

() = 2 6
The formula for the trapezium rule is the following:

() =

[() + () + 2(( + ) + ( + 2) + + ( + ( 2)) + ( + ( 1)))]

2

where n is the number of strips and h = (b - a) n, the width of each strip.

Hence for my integral: (where h = ((0.95 - 0) n) = (0.95 n))
=

0.95
0.95
2 0.95
0.95( 2)
0.95( 1)
[(0) + (0.95) + 2 ((
) + (
) + + (
) + (
))]
2

The formula for the mid-point rule is the following:

3
(2 3)
(2 1)
() = (( + ) + ( + ) + + ( +
) + ( +
))
2
2
2
2

where n is the number of strips and h = (b - a) n, the width of each strip.

Hence for my integral: (where h = ((0.95-0) n) = (0.95 n))
=

0.95
0.95
3 0.95
0.95(2 3)
0.95(2 1)
((
) + (
) + + (
) + (
))

2
2
2
2

The trapezium rule can easily be calculated using Tn and Mn using this formula:
=

2 +
3

where n is the number of strips.

I have elected to write a computer program to produce the trapezium rule, mid-point rule and Simpsons
rule approximations to the integral. This is because it is much more efficient at outputting approximations
with large numbers of strips and is much quicker to implement than a spreadsheet.
It is written in Python and has three input variables: a and b, the lower and upper limits of the integral
respectively, and p, the total number of n values to be calculated:

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

1
2
3
4

#Input variables
p=int(eval(input('Number of n values in approximations')))
a=float(eval(input('Lower bound')))
b=float(eval(input('Upper bound')))

The trapezium rule is calculated using a function named trap. Within this function, h is the width of each
strip, v is the variable for the multiplier of (h 2) and u is the variable that generates and represents each
of the values of x to be used for the different values of f(x) that are added together and multiplied by two.
Finally, t is the output value of the function, the trapezium rule approximation.
The initial value of v is calculated by adding together f(a) and f(b) on line 4. Lines 6 to 8 are a loop that
generates values of u and f(u). The value of f(u) is multiplied by two and added to the v variable on line 8
on each iteration of the loop. On line 10, the function is completed by multiplying the final value of the v
variable by half of h to create the value of t, which is outputted on line 11. Please note that a double
asterisk (**) is the exponent operator in Python (equivalent to ^ in most spreadsheet programs).
#Trapezium rule
1
2 def trap(a,b,n):
h=(b-a)/n
3
v=(((a**2)-(a**6))**(1/6.0))+(((b**2)-(b**6))**(1/6.0))
4
u=0
5
for i in range(1,n):
6
u=(a+(i*h))
7
v+=2*((u**2)-(u**6))**(1/6.0)
8
9
t=(h/2.0)*v
10
return t
11

The midOrd function calculates the mid-ordinate rule approximation. The width of each strip is again
represented by the h variable; v is the variable which accumulates the values of f(x) and u produces the
values of x for which f(x) must be calculated. The calculated approximation is the variable, m.
Lines 6 to 8 are a loop which generates all values of u (line 7) and accumulates f(u) onto the v variable.
Line 10 calculates m by finding the product of the final value of v and h. Line 11 outputs m.
#Mid ordinate rule
1
2 def midOrd(a,b,n):
h=(b-a)/n
3
v=0.0
4
u=0
5
for i in range(1,n+1):
6
u=(a+(((2.0*i)-1.0)*h)/2.0)
7
v+=(((u**2)-(u**6))**(1/6.0))
8
9
m=v*h
10
return m
11

The code which outputs and displays all the desired trapezium rule, mid-point rule and Simpsons rule
approximations is shown below.
Lines 3 to 5 display the approximations for the trapezium rule. Lines 4 and 5 are a loop that runs the trap
function using the lower and upper limits of the integral with a number of strips, starting from one, that is

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

doubled each time (the number of times it is doubled depends on the value of p). Line 5 creates the label
for each approximation so that each can be identified by type of approximation and number of strips.
Lines 7 to 9 do the same thing, using the midOrd function to obtain the mid-ordinate rule approximations.
Lines 11 to 13 calculate the Simpsons rule approximations by inserting the T n and Mn values into the
formula for it. They are obtained using the trap and midOrd functions respectively.
It should be noted that for each time the number of strips is doubled, the width of each strip is halved.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

#Output
print('Trapezium rule approximations:')
for x in range(p):
print('T',(2**x),'=',trap(a,b,(2**x)))
print('Midpoint rule approximations:')
for x in range(p):
print('M',(2**x),'=',midOrd(a,b,(2**x)))
print('Simpsons rule approximations:')
for x in range(p):
print('S',(2**x),'=',((2*(midOrd(a,b,(2**x)))+(trap(a,b,(2**x))))/3))

Running the program with the user inputs of a = 0, b = 0.95 and p = 20 gives the following approximations
(the raw output of the program can be found in the appendix):
n
(number
of strips)

h (width of each
strip)

Tn (trapezium
rule
approximation)

Mn (mid-point
rule
approximation)

Sn (Simpson's rule
approximation)

1
2 [A3]
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
8192
16384
32768
65536
131072
262144
524288

0.95
0.475 [B3]
0.2375
0.11875
0.059375
0.0296875
0.01484375
0.007421875
0.0037109375
0.00185546875
0.000927734375
0.0004638671875
0.00023193359375
0.000115966796875
5.79833984375 10-5
2.899169921875 10-5
1.4495849609375 10-5
7.2479248046875 10-6
3.62396240234375 10-6
1.811981201171875 10-6

0.3526330592938719
0.5437197584333392
0.6207071600122788
0.65050689105962
0.6618342445404037
0.6661356437820323
0.6677835343060384
0.6684215916376727
0.6686707381401477
0.6687685892282945
0.6688071653769639
0.6688224102868545
0.6688284442206045
0.6688308347855151
0.6688317824810049
0.6688321583240022
0.6688323074148468
0.6688323665659334
0.6688323900361666
0.6688323993493503

0.7348064575728066
0.6976945615912183
0.6803066221069612
0.6731615980211872
0.6704370430236609
0.6694314248300444
0.6690596489693071
0.6689198846426211
0.6688664403164426
0.6688457415256341
0.6688376551967419
0.6688344781543543
0.66883322535043
0.668832730176492
0.6688325341669943
0.6688324565056877
0.6688324257170426
0.6688324135063952
0.6688324086625402
0.668832406740728

0.6074153248131617
0.6463696272052587
0.6604401347420671
0.6656100290339982
0.6675694435292417
0.6683328311473736
0.6686342774148842
0.668753786974305
0.6688012062576777
0.6688200240931876
0.6688274919234826
0.6688304555318544
0.6688316316404882
0.6688320983794998
0.6688322836049978
0.6688323571117926
0.6688323862829773
0.6688323978595746
0.668832402453749
0.6688324042769355

The second columns cells values were generated by dividing 0.95 by the cell to its left. Spreadsheet
software (Microsoft Excel) was used for this because of the speed and convenience offered by its drag-andfill function. For example, the formula in cell B3 was:
=0.95/A3

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

Under the notion that trapezium rule and mid-point rule approximations are under- and over-estimations
respectively, the actual solution to the integral must lie in the interval (0.6688323993493503,
0.668832406740728) and therefore, is 0.6688324 to seven significant figures since both bounds round to
this value.

4.ERROR ANALYSIS
I attempted to calculate the order of convergence for each of the approximations. I did this using the ratio of
differences (shown for Simpsons rule, but the same for trapezium and mid-point rules; column D):
() =

4 2
2

This was compared to the textbooks ratio of differences. My values converged towards roughly 0.397 for all
approximating methods, directly contradicting the expected values of 0.25 for the trapezium and mid-point
rules and 0.0625 for Simpsons rule. This suggests that the order of convergence for my integration
approximations are not second-order for trapezium and mid-point and fourth-order for Simpsons. Using
natural logarithms, I calculated the orders of convergence (column E):
= (

+1 ()
)

:
=

1
2

ln() = ln
=

1
2

= ln

1
2

ln()
1

ln2

A spreadsheet was used for this. The formulas are shown below:
A

2
3
4
5
6

1
2
4
8
16

D
Ratio of
differences

E
Order of
convergence

0.95
0.475
0.2375
0.11875
0.059375

C
Approximations (Sn,
Tn, Mn etc.)
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx

=(C4-C3)/(C3-C2)
=(C5-C4)/(C4-C3)
=(C6-C5)/(C5-C4)

=LN(D4)/LN(1/2)
=LN(D5)/LN(1/2)
=LN(D6)/LN(1/2)

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

The following values of each values order of convergence were produced (the full spreadsheets of values are
in the appendix):
n (number
of strips)
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
8192
16384
32768
65536
131072
262144
524288

Tn order of convergence

Mn order of
convergence

Sn order of convergence

1.311533077
1.369323069
1.39548848
1.396932881
1.384185642
1.368862436
1.356691739
1.348334522
1.342878778
1.339381493
1.337156861
1.335747277
1.334856104
1.334293444
1.333938465
1.333715075
1.333572518
1.333485776

1.093794728
1.2830762
1.390918261
1.437937957
1.435577652
1.411436924
1.386887476
1.368490305
1.355989702
1.347800545
1.342523702
1.339153347
1.337011819
1.335655674
1.334797612
1.334258723
1.333912072
1.33368843

1.46910831
1.444467682
1.399712164
1.359934926
1.340514921
1.334774844
1.333580257
1.333373166
1.333339646
1.333334329
1.33333349
1.333333363
1.333333343
1.333333189
1.333333625
1.333332764
1.333333534
1.333344002
4
3

For all three methods, the orders of convergence appear to converge towards 1.3333, or . It is therefore
4
3

reasonable to conclude that the orders of convergence for my integral are . The similarity in the orders of
convergence suggests that the speeds of convergence between my three methods are roughly the same.
Because I will use my Simpsons rule approximations to generate an improved approximation to my
integral, it can be deduced that the absolute error of each approximation is given by = kh 4/3, where k is the
constant of proportionality.
If I is the theoretical exact solution to the integral, I = S n = Sn kh4/3.
Combining together the general approximations of Sn and S2n and inserting the general expression for each
strip width, the respective values of I can be combined and eliminated to find the value of k:
4

=
((

0.95 4
)3
2

0.95 3
( )

0.95 4
)3 )

= 2 (

0.95 4
2

)3

= 2

2
4
4
0.95
0.95
( 2 )3 ( )3

With k, I and can be calculated for each approximation. A spreadsheet was used for this:

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

1
2

A
n
1

16

n
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
8192
16384
32768
65536
131072
262144
524288

B
Sn

C
k

D
I

E
of Sn

0.6074153
24813161
0.6463696
27205258
0.6604401
34742067
0.6656100
29033998
0.6675694
43529241

=(B3-B2)/(((0.95/A3))^(4/3)((0.95/A2))^(4/3))
=(B4-B3)/(((0.95/A4))^(4/3)((0.95/A3))^(4/3))
=(B5-B4)/(((0.95/A5))^(4/3)((0.95/A4))^(4/3))
=(B6-B5)/(((0.95/A6))^(4/3)((0.95/A5))^(4/3))
=(B7-B6)/(((0.95/A7))^(4/3)((0.95/A6))^(4/3))

=B2-C2*(0.95/A2)^(4/3)

=C2*(0.95/A2)^(4/3)

=B3-C3*(0.95/A3)^(4/3)

=C3*(0.95/A3)^(4/3)

=B4-C4*(0.95/A4)^(4/3)

=C4*(0.95/A4)^(4/3)

=B5-C5*(0.95/A5)^(4/3)

=C5*(0.95/A5)^(4/3)

=B6-C6*(0.95/A6)^(4/3)

=C6*(0.95/A6)^(4/3)

Sn
0.6074153248131617
0.6463696272052587
0.6604401347420671
0.6656100290339982
0.6675694435292417
0.6683328311473736
0.6686342774148842
0.668753786974305
0.6688012062576777
0.6688200240931876
0.6688274919234826
0.6688304555318544
0.6688316316404882
0.6688320983794998
0.6688322836049978
0.6688323571117926
0.6688323862829773
0.6688323978595746
0.668832402453749
0.668832404276935

k
-0.069156363451686
-0.062944792688284
-0.058278053144106
-0.055657412984714
-0.054640559611278
-0.054369240394011
-0.054314942921677
-0.054305647474960
-0.054304148118075
-0.054303910507442
-0.054303873044472
-0.054303867137927
-0.054303866011072
-0.054303865655806
-0.054303871100461
-0.054303860120849
-0.054303881539811
-0.054303873971120
-0.054303472399519

I
0.672000120266008
0.669698009319140
0.669011628642698
0.668858665939591
0.668835112021312
0.668832617931674
0.668832419852969
0.668832406395756
0.668832405534333
0.668832405480157
0.668832405476768
0.668832405476556
0.668832405476540
0.668832405476538
0.668832405476550
0.668832405476540
0.668832405476548
0.668832405476547
0.668832405476524

of Sn
-0.064584795452847
-0.023328382113882
-0.008571493900631
-0.003248636905593
-0.001265668492071
-0.000499786784301
-0.000198142438085
-0.000078619421451
-0.000031199276656
-0.000012381386970
-0.000004913553286
-0.000001949944702
-0.000000773836052
-0.000000307097039
-0.000000121871553
-0.000000048364748
-0.000000019193571
-0.000000007616972
-0.000000003022775

From these calculations, the column labelled I gives the extrapolated value of the integral as
0.6688324054765 to 13 significant figures because from n = 4096 onwards, all but one of the values for I
round to this figure.

5.CONCLUSION
0.95 6

The solution to 0

2 6 , using 524288 strips is 0.6688324054765 to 13 significant figures.

This means that the integrals solution lies in the interval [0.66883240547645, 0.66883240547655). In the
context of my problem involving a solid gold prism, this means that the volume of gold required, in metres
cubed, lies in the interval [0.481559331943044, 0.481559331943116). This was obtained by multiplying the
integrals bounds by 0.72.
The volume of gold required for the sculpture is therefore 0.481559331943 m3 to 12 significant figures. It is
probably true that this level of precision is excessive in the context of measuring an amount of gold;
equipment would likely not be able to measure to this high degree of precision for the volume.

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

My chosen graphical function has near vertical portions (i.e. large gradients) towards the limits of x = -1 and
x = 1. If these had been the limits of my integral, the accuracy of my approximations may have been severely
compromised because f(-1) and f(0) both have values of zero. This would cause trapezium rule estimates to
be under-estimated to a much larger extent because of the zero value that is included in all calculations for
any number of strips; this would cause the approximations to have a much slower rate on convergence to
the true value because increasing the number of strips would lessen the effect that the zero value would
have on the approximation. Consequently, this would also cause the Simpsons rule estimate (partly
calculated using the trapezium rule estimate) to have a slower rate of convergence. Fortunately, because of
the real-world nature of my problem and hypothetical engineering constraints, this did not turn out to be a
problem for me.
My method for numerical integration is valid for finding the area beneath my chosen curve; the graph of y =
f(x) in figure 4 proves that the graph is always convex in my range of x values. The value of the second
derivative is less than zero for the entirety of my domain. Therefore, it is correct to say that the trapezium
and mid-point rule approximations are under- and over-estimates respectively, and so the true value of the
integral lies somewhere in between the estimates given by each of these two methods.

FIGURE 4: A GRAPH OF Y=

18 4 +2
5

9( 4 1)( 2 6 )6

, THE SECOND DERIVATIVE OF F(X)

6.REFERENCE LIST
BARILE, M. & WEISSTEIN, E. W., 2002 Butterfly Curve. [Online]. [Accessed 30 January 2015]. Available
from: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ButterflyCurve.html
LISSAMAN, R. AND WEST, E. (2004) MEI Numerical Methods (MEI Structured Mathematics (A+AS
Level)). 3rd ed. United Kingdom: Hodder & Stoughton.

10

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

7.APPENDICES
7.1.RAW OUTPUT OF THE COMPUTER PROGRAM
Trapezium rule approximations:
T 1 = 0.3526330592938719
T 2 = 0.5437197584333392
T 4 = 0.6207071600122788
T 8 = 0.65050689105962
T 16 = 0.6618342445404037
T 32 = 0.6661356437820323
T 64 = 0.6677835343060384
T 128 = 0.6684215916376727
T 256 = 0.6686707381401477
T 512 = 0.6687685892282945
T 1024 = 0.6688071653769639
T 2048 = 0.6688224102868545
T 4096 = 0.6688284442206045
T 8192 = 0.6688308347855151
T 16384 = 0.6688317824810049
T 32768 = 0.6688321583240022
T 65536 = 0.6688323074148468
T 131072 = 0.6688323665659334
T 262144 = 0.6688323900361666
T 524288 = 0.6688323993493503
Midpoint rule approximations:
M 1 = 0.7348064575728066
M 2 = 0.6976945615912183
M 4 = 0.6803066221069612
M 8 = 0.6731615980211872
M 16 = 0.6704370430236609
M 32 = 0.6694314248300444
M 64 = 0.6690596489693071
M 128 = 0.6689198846426211
M 256 = 0.6688664403164426
M 512 = 0.6688457415256341
M 1024 = 0.6688376551967419
M 2048 = 0.6688344781543543
M 4096 = 0.66883322535043
M 8192 = 0.668832730176492
M 16384 = 0.6688325341669943
M 32768 = 0.6688324565056877
M 65536 = 0.6688324257170426
M 131072 = 0.6688324135063952
M 262144 = 0.6688324086625402
M 524288 = 0.668832406740728
Simpsons rule approximations:
S 1 = 0.6074153248131617
S 2 = 0.6463696272052587
S 4 = 0.6604401347420671
S 8 = 0.6656100290339982
S 16 = 0.6675694435292417
S 32 = 0.6683328311473736
S 64 = 0.6686342774148842
S 128 = 0.668753786974305
S 256 = 0.6688012062576777
S 512 = 0.6688200240931876
S 1024 = 0.6688274919234826
S 2048 = 0.6688304555318544
S 4096 = 0.6688316316404882
S 8192 = 0.6688320983794998
S 16384 = 0.6688322836049978
S 32768 = 0.6688323571117926
S 65536 = 0.6688323862829773
S 131072 = 0.6688323978595746
S 262144 = 0.668832402453749
S 524288 = 0.6688324042769355

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

11

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

7.2.SPREADSHEET TABLES FOR RATES OF

CONVERGENCE
7.2.1.TRAPEZIUM RULE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

n (number of
strips)
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
8192
16384
32768
65536
131072
262144
524288

h (width of
each strip)
0.95
0.475
0.2375
0.11875
0.059375
0.0296875
0.01484375
0.007421875
0.003710938
0.001855469
0.000927734
0.000463867
0.000231934
0.000115967
5.79834 10-5
2.89917 10-5
1.44958 10-5
7.24792 10-6
3.62396 10-6
1.81198 10-6

Tn (trapezium rule
approximation)
0.352633
0.54372
0.620707
0.650507
0.661834
0.666136
0.667784
0.668422
0.668671
0.668769
0.668807
0.668822
0.668828
0.668831
0.668832
0.668832
0.668832
0.668832
0.668832
0.668832

Ratio of
differences

Order of
convergence

0.402893
0.387073
0.380116
0.379736
0.383106
0.387196
0.390477
0.392745
0.394233
0.39519
0.3958
0.396187
0.396432
0.396586
0.396684
0.396745
0.396784
0.396808

1.311533
1.369323
1.395488
1.396933
1.384186
1.368862
1.356692
1.348335
1.342879
1.339381
1.337157
1.335747
1.334856
1.334293
1.333938
1.333715
1.333573
1.333486

7.2.2.MID-POINT RULE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

12

n (number of
strips)
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
8192
16384
32768
65536
131072
262144
524288

h (width of
each strip)
0.95
0.475
0.2375
0.11875
0.059375
0.0296875
0.01484375
0.007421875
0.003710938
0.001855469
0.000927734
0.000463867
0.000231934
0.000115967
5.79834 10-5
2.89917 10-5
1.44958 10-5
7.24792 10-6
3.62396 10-6
1.81198 10-6

Mn (mid-point rule
approximation)
0.734806458
0.697694562
0.680306622
0.673161598
0.670437043
0.669431425
0.669059649
0.668919885
0.66886644
0.668845742
0.668837655
0.668834478
0.668833225
0.66883273
0.668832534
0.668832457
0.668832426
0.668832414
0.668832409
0.668832407

Ratio of
differences

Order of
convergence

0.468527383
0.410918389
0.381322017
0.369094474
0.369698821
0.375937067
0.382388893
0.387296319
0.390666729
0.392890572
0.394330252
0.395252544
0.39583969
0.396211958
0.39644768
0.396595792
0.396691098
0.396752597

1.093794728
1.2830762
1.390918261
1.437937957
1.435577652
1.411436924
1.386887476
1.368490305
1.355989702
1.347800545
1.342523702
1.339153347
1.337011819
1.335655674
1.334797612
1.334258723
1.333912072
1.33368843

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

Find the volume of gold required for a solid gold prismatic butterfly sculpture

7.2.3.SIMPSONS RULE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

n (number of
strips)
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
8192
16384
32768
65536
131072
262144
524288

h (width of
each strip)
0.95
0.475
0.2375
0.11875
0.059375
0.0296875
0.01484375
0.007421875
0.003710938
0.001855469
0.000927734
0.000463867
0.000231934
0.000115967
5.79834 10-5
2.89917 10-5
1.44958 10-5
7.24792 10-6
3.62396 10-6
1.81198 10-6

Sn (Simpson's rule
approximation)
0.607415325
0.646369627
0.660440135
0.665610029
0.667569444
0.668332831
0.668634277
0.668753787
0.668801206
0.668820024
0.668827492
0.668830456
0.668831632
0.668832098
0.668832284
0.668832357
0.668832386
0.668832398
0.668832402
0.668832404

Ratio of
differences

Order of
convergence

0.361205481
0.367427705
0.37900475
0.389599863
0.394879692
0.396453937
0.396782346
0.396839306
0.396848527
0.396849989
0.39685022
0.396850255
0.39685026
0.396850303
0.396850183
0.39685042
0.396850208
0.396847328

1.46910831
1.444467682
1.399712164
1.359934926
1.340514921
1.334774844
1.333580257
1.333373166
1.333339646
1.333334329
1.33333349
1.333333363
1.333333343
1.333333189
1.333333625
1.333332764
1.333333534
1.333344002

GCE Further Mathematics (MEI) Numerical Methods | Maurice Yap 6946

13