Is there a rule that characterizes when Euler's method over-estimates

Santino Bautista

Santino Bautista

Answered question

2022-06-25

Is there a rule that characterizes when Euler's method over-estimates or under-estimates?
For example, "if f ( x ) is increasing, then Euler's method underestimates," or something similar?

Answer & Explanation

Odin Jacobson

Odin Jacobson

Beginner2022-06-26Added 17 answers

Generally speaking, Euler's method will overestimate when the second derivative of f is negative. This comes from the Taylor's series of the function:
f ( x ) = f ( x 0 ) + ( x x 0 ) f ( x ) + 1 2 ( x x 0 ) 2 f ( x ) +
Euler's method accounts for the f term but no more. This is not absolute. For a given step size, the third derivative could be huge and swamp the effect of the second. Higher order methods account for more terms of the Taylor series.

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