Simpsons Rule

Simpsons Rule is used when a standard integration technique

is too involved or not easily performed.

A curve that is not defined mathematically

A curve that is irregular and not easily defined mathematically

It is an APPROXIMATION of the true integration

Given an integral in the following form:

y
y = f(x)

y(x) dx

Where y is a function of x, that is, y is the dependent variable defined by x, the integral can
be approximated by dividing the area under the curve into equally spaced sections, Dx,
y
y = f(x)

Dx

and summing the individual areas.

y = f(x)

Notice that:

Dx

The curve area is the same

Spacing is constant along x (the dx in the integral is the Dx here)
The value of y (the height) depends on the location on x (y is a function of x, aka y= f(x))
The area of the series of rectangles is more easily summed up

Simpsons Rule breaks the curve into these sections and then
sums them up for total area under the curve

Simpsons 1st Rule

Area = 1/3 Dx [yo + 4y1 + 2y2+2y n-2 + 4y n-1 + yn]
where:
- n is an ODD number of stations
- Dx is the distance between stations
- yn is the value of y at the given station along x
- Repeats in a pattern of 1,4,2,4,2,4,22,4,1

Simpsons 2nd Rule

Area = 3/8 Dx [yo + 3y1 + 3y2 + 2y3 + 3y4 +3y5 + 2y6 + + 3y n-1 + yn]
where:
- n is an EVEN number of stations
- Repeats in a pattern 1,3,3,2,3,3,2,3,3,2,2,3,3,1

Simpsons 1st Rule is the one we use here since it gives an EVEN
number of divisions

Heres how its put to use in this course:

Waterplane Area, Awp
Awp = 2 y(x) dx
Awp = 2 x 1/3 Dx [yo + 4y1 + 2y2+2y n-2 + 4y n-1 + yn]

The 2 is needed because the data youll have is for a half-section

Section Area, Asect

Asect= 2

y(z) dz

Asect = 2 x 1/3 Dx [yo + 4y1 + 2y2+2y n-2 + 4y n-1 + yn]

Note: You will always know the value of y for the stations (x or z)!
It will be presented in the Table of Offsets or readily measured

Asection and Awp are examples of how Simpsons rule is

used to find area

The next slides show how it can be used to

find the First Moment of Area, that is, finding the centroid of a
given area.
The only difference in the procedure is the addition of another
term, the distance of the individual area segments from the
y-axisthe value of x.
The values of x will be the progressive sum of the Dx if Dx is
the width of the sections, say10, then x0=0, x1=10, x2=20,x3=30
and so on.

Longitudinal Center of Flotation, LCF

-This is the CENTROID of the Awp of the ship, or the 1st Moment of Area of
the Awp.
-For this reason you now need to introduce the distance, x, of the section Dx
from the y-axis
y

y(x)

dA

x
FP

LCF =

Dx

AP

x dA/Awp

That is, LCF is the sum of all the areas, dA, and their distances from
the y-axis, divided by the total area of the water plane

Longitudinal Center of Flotation, LCF, (contd)

- Since our sectional areas are done in half-sections this needs to be
multiplied by 2
- Remember, dA = y(x)dx, so we can substitute for dA
- Awp is constant, so it moves left
dA

LCF =

x dA/Awp

2/Awp x y(x)dx

*see below!

Substituting into Simpson's Eq., youll get the following:

LCF = 2/Awp x 1/3 Dx [(1) (xo) (yo) + 4 (x1) (y1) + 2 (x2) (y2) + + (xn) (yn) ]
Note that the blue terms are what we have to add to make Simpson work for LCF.
Remember to include them in your calculations!

*This is actually a moment balance equation! Awp LCF = S (x dA) See the .ppt presentation
for further discussion!

Its often easier to put all the information in tabular form on

an Excel spreadsheet:
Station

Dist from
FP
(x value)
0
1
2
3
4

0.0
81.6
163.2
244.8
326.4

HalfBreadth
(y value)
0.39
12.92
20.97
21.71
12.58

Moment
xy
0.0
1054.3
3422.3
5314.6
4106.1

Simpson
Multiplier

Product of
Moment x
Multiplier

1
4
2
4
1

0.0
4217.1
6844.6
21258.4
4106.1
36426.2

Remember, this gives only part of the equation! You still

need the 2/Awp x 1/3 Dx part!
- Dx here is 81.6 ft
- Awp would be given
- 2 because youre dealing with a half-breadth section

We can now move onto the next dimension, VOLUMES!

Volume, Submerged, Vsubmerged

- It gets a little trickier here remember, since you are now dealing with a
VOLUME, the y term previous now becomes an AREA term for that
station section because you are summing the areas:

Vsubmerged =

Asect(x) dx

Vsub = 1/3 Dx [Ao + 4A1 + 2A2+2A n-2 + 4A n-1 + An]

Vertical Center of Buoyancy, KB

This is similar to the LCF in that it is a CENTROID, but where LCF is the centroid
of the Awp, KB is the centroid of the submerged volume of the ship measured from
the keel
z
y

Awp

KB

KB =

zAwp(z) dz

where:
- Awp is the area of the waterplane at the distance z from the keel
- z is the distance of the Awp section from the x-axis
- dz is the spacing between the Awp sections, or Dz in Simpsons Eq.

You can now put this into Simpsons Equation:

KB =

zAwp(z) dz

KB =Awp x 1/3 Dz [(1) (zo) (Awpo) + 4 (z1) (Awp1) + 2 (z2) (Awp2) + + (zn) (Awpn) ]

Remember that the blue terms are what we have to add to make Simpson work for KB.
Dont forget to include them in your calculations!

And FINALLY,
Longitudinal Center of Buoyancy, LCB
This is EXACTLY the same as KB, only this time:
- Instead of taking measurements along the z-axis, youre taking them from the x-axis
- Instead of using waterplane areas, youre using section areas
- Itll tell you how far back from the FP the center of buoyancy is.

Asection

x
LCB

LCB =

x Asect (x) dx

where:
- Asect is the area of the section at the distance z from the forward perpendicular (FP)
- x is the distance of the Asect section from the y-axis
- dx is the spacing between the Asect sections, or Dx in Simpsons Eq.

You can now put this into Simpsons Equation:

LCB =

x Asect (x) dx

KB =Asect x 1/3 Dx [(1) (xo) (Asect) + 4 (x1) (Asect 1) + 2 (x2) (Asect 2) + + (xn) (Asect n) ]

Remember that the blue terms are what we have to add to make Simpson work for LCB.
Dont forget to include them in your calculations!

And that is Simpsons Equations as they apply to this course!

The concept of finding the center of an area, LCF, or the center of a volume, LCB
or KB, are just centroid equations. Understand THAT concept, and you can find the
center of any shape or object!

Dont waste your time memorizing all the formulas! Understand the basic Simpsons
1st, understand the concept behind the different uses, and youll never be lost!