Re: Using FindRoot on an equation involving Log terms
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg115727] Re: Using FindRoot on an equation involving Log terms
- From: DrMajorBob <btreat1 at austin.rr.com>
- Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:27:45 -0500 (EST)
The function's derivative at the root is rather large, so an accurate solution requires a bit of work. It needn't be this verbose, but here's an approach that works well when the plot is well-behaved: Clear[expr] expr[x_] = 110.52499999999998 + (300. - 135.52499999999998/(1 - x)) (1 - x) - 300. x - 135.52499999999998 Log[1 - x] + 135.52499999999998 Log[x]; p0 = Plot[expr@x, {x, 0, 1}]; pt1 = First@Cases[p0, Line[pts_List] :> pts, Infinity]; p1 = ListPlot[pt1, PlotRange -> All]; pt2 = pt1 /. {x_, y_} -> {x, Abs@y}; p2 = ListPlot@pt2; sorted = SortBy[pt2, Last]; x0 = sorted[[1, 1]] root = x /. FindRoot[expr@x, {x, x0}] 0.849313 0.849823 expr /@ {x0, root} {-0.235046, -2.84217*10^-14} expr'[root] 461.91 Notice the large derivative and how far off (vertically) is the plot's closest point to the root. highLow = {root, #} & /@ pt1[[{1, -1}, -1]]; Show[p0, p1, p2, Graphics@{Thick, Red, Line@highLow}] Bobby On Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:51:50 -0600, Andrew DeYoung <adeyoung at andrew.cmu.edu> wrote: > Hi, > > I am trying to find the root of a certain expression in Mathematica > version 7: > > expr = 110.52499999999998 + (300. - 135.52499999999998/(1 - x)) (1 - > x) - 300. x - 135.52499999999998 Log[1 - x] + 135.52499999999998 > Log[x] > > It appears to plot fine, for example using Plot[expr, {x, 0, 1}]. The > plot shows that there should be a root at about x=0.85. However, when > I try to find this root, using for example the following: > > FindRoot[expr, {x, 0.5}] > > I get an error message: > > "FindRoot::lstol: The line search decreased the step size to within > tolerance specified by AccuracyGoal and PrecisionGoal but was unable > to find a sufficient decrease in the merit function. You may need > more than MachinePrecision digits of working precision to meet these > tolerances." > > and it prints a seemingly incorrect (according to the qualitative form > of the plot) result: {x -> 0.344678}. Only if I use for example > > FindRoot[expr, {x, 0.7}] > > do I get the seemingly "correct" root: {x -> 0.849823}. > > Can you help me see why the FindRoot is getting stuck at {x -> > 0.344678} when I use starting values far away from 0.7 or 0.8? I will > ultimately want to find the roots of many similar functions, which may > have more than one "actual" root, so it would be helpful if I could > see why FindRoot[expr, {x, 0.5}] does not give {x -> 0.849823}. (also > when I tried NSolve[expr==0,x], Mathematica will not solve it.) > > Thank you, > > Andrew DeYoung > Carnegie Mellon University > -- DrMajorBob at yahoo.com