Sometimes I go into some subject in the class (high school level) and I have to explain to my students how approximate an irrational number by a sequence of rationals. The problem is that I should explain that in a high school level. What I usually do is take π as a example and take the sequence:
3,1=31/103,14=314/1003,141=3141/10003,1415=31415/10000⋮
I think that approach is intuitive and the students feel satisfacted with that. I was trying to figure out another way to explain the rational approximation but I coudn't find any. My questions is, does anyone know another way to explain that approximation in a high school level?
Thanks in advance.
Answer
Newton's method for square roots can be a good candidate due to its simplicity.
For example for approximating √2 in few iterations. You can ask your students where do they think √2 is located. Between 1.41 and 1.42, then you can start with x0=1.41
g(x)=x−(x2−2)2x
g(1.41)=1.41−(1.412−2)2⋅1.41=1.4142198581...
g(1.4142198581)=1.4142135623≈√2
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