Tutorial 3 Fixed-point iteration, Newton Raphson and Secant Methods.

1. Find a root of f ( x) = 0.95 x 3 5.9 x 2 + 10.9 x 6 using THREE ITERATIONS of:

a) Newton Raphson method with initial guess of 3.5.
b) Secant method with initial guesses of x-1 = 2.5 and x0 = 3.5.
Calculate the approximation error at each iteration.
Answer: a) x = 3.3446, a = 0.015%, b) x = 3.3671, a = 2.23%
2. Given that f ( x) = 2 x 3 11.7 x 2 + 17.7 x 5 use THREE ITERATIONS of Newton Raphson
Method to calculate the value of f(x) at the maximum point of the function. It is known
that the maximum point of the function occurs near x = 0.8.
Answer: at maximum point, x = 1.0267, f(x) = 3.0040
3. Determine the lowest positive root of f ( x) = (8 sin ( x ))e x 1 using THREE ITERATIONS of:
a) Newton Raphson method with initial guess of 0.3.
b) Secant method with initial guesses of x-1 = 0.5 and x0 = 0.4.
Answer: a) x = 0.1450, a = 1.03%, b) x = 0.1581, a = 30.68%
4. Find the root of f ( x) = x 2 + 1.8 x + 2.5 with and initial guess of 5 using:
a) fixed-point iteration method
b) Newton Raphson method
For both methods, perform the computation until a < 5%. Also perform an error check of
your final answer.
Answer: a) x = 2.7424, a = 1.71%, b) x = 2.7211, a = 2.95%
5. In an experiment involving slow, viscous liquid flowing past an object, the heat transfer
coefficient, H along the surface of the object was found to be a function of the kinematic
viscosity of the liquid v, the characteristic length of the object L, and the flow velocity u. The
variation of H can be written in terms of v, L and u as:
L3 26

L2 v
Lv 2
v 3 Hv 3
+ 213 2 530 3 = 3
u
u
u
u

For given values of L, u and v, it is known that the Reynolds number of the flow, Re is
Lu
defined as Re =
. Perform three iterations of the Secant method to calculate the value of
v
the Reynolds number when H = 10. Use initial guesses of Re -1 = 4.0 and Re 0 = 4.5 for your
calculations.
Answer: Re = 4.9989

6. Mr. Momo, a mechanical engineer, has just finished designing a new toy airplane and found
that the force F acting on the plane varies with the velocity of the airplane, v. Mr. Momo
found that the relationship between F and v is very simple, given by:
F = v 3 23v 2 + 156v 288

Use three iterations of the Newton-Raphson method with initial guess of 0 to help Mr.
Momo determine the maximum force* that will be experienced by the toy airplane.
*Hint: The maximum and minimum values of a function of single variable x, say y (x), are
dy
=0
achieved when the value of dx
.
Answer: v = 5.0450, Fmax = 42.0289