Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/ib/paper-4/6d/solution

On each interval of width , Taylor expansion about its midpoint shows that the local midpoint-rule error is . Summing over intervals gives the composite midpoint rule error
To remove the endpoint singularity, set . Then
whose transformed integrand is analytic. Applying the composite midpoint rule in with gives
This has the required form when
The quadratic substitution for a square-root endpoint singularity therefore restores second-order convergence.

New to topics? Read the docs here!