What is interpolation in engineering computation?

Interpolation in engineering computation refers to the process of estimating unknown values that fall within the range of a set of known data points. This technique is crucial when engineers need to estimate values that are not explicitly provided by existing data but are necessary for analysis, design, or decision-making.

For instance, if an engineer has data points for the temperature at different times but needs to determine the temperature at a specific time between those data points, interpolation allows for a reasonable estimate based on the surrounding known values.

Interpolation is widely applied in various fields such as fluid dynamics, structural analysis, and numerical simulations, where it is often necessary to predict values in between measured data points without having to conduct additional experiments or calculations.

By utilizing different methods of interpolation, such as linear interpolation or polynomial interpolation, engineers can achieve varying degrees of accuracy, thus making it an indispensable tool in computational engineering.