Secant method

So imagine you are trying to find where a line crosses a curve. But instead of drawing a straight line through the curve, you draw a curvy line that starts at one point and ends at another.

This curvy line is called a secant line. By drawing this line through the curve, you can get closer and closer to the point where the curve and the line cross.

The secant method is a way of using this idea to find the solution to an equation. You start with two guesses, or estimates, for where the solution might be. Then you draw a secant line through those two points and see where it crosses the x-axis (the horizontal line).

That crossing point becomes your new guess for the solution. Then you draw a new secant line through that point and your original second guess, and see where it crosses the x-axis.

You keep doing this over and over, getting closer and closer to the actual solution, until the crossing point is very close to the real solution. Voila! You have found the answer!