NumericalMethodsLecture5-CurveFittingTechniques.pdfVIP

CGN 3421 - Computer Methods Gurley Numerical Methods Lecture 5 - Curve Fitting Techniques Topics motivation interpolation linear regression higher order polynomial form exponential form Curve fitting - motivation For root finding, we used a given function to identify where it crossed zero where does ! ( ) ! ?? Q: Where does this given function ! ( ) come from in the first place? • Analytical models of phenomena (e.g. equations from physics) • Create an equation from observed data 1) Interpolation (connect the data-dots) If data is reliable, we can plot it and connect the dots This is piece-wise, linear interpolation This has limited use as a general function ! ( ) Since its really a group of small ! ( ) s, connecting one point to the next it doesn’t work very well for data that has built in random error (scatter) 2) Curve fitting - capturing the trend in the data by assigning a single function across the entire range. The example below uses a straight line function f(x) = ax + b for each line f(x) = ax + b for entire range Interpolation Curve Fitting A straight line is described generically by f(x) = ax + b The goal is to identify the coefficients ‘a’ and ‘b’ such that f(x) ‘fits’ the data well Numerical Methods Lecture 5 - Curve Fitting Techniques page 89 of 102 CGN 3421 - Computer Methods Gurley other examples of data sets that we can fit a function to.