MDB 3053: Numerical Methods (May 2016 Sem.

)
Assignment #1

Due: 15 Jun 2016 (Wed)

Q1
Newtons law of cooling says that the temperature of a body changes at a rate proportional to the difference between its
temperature and that of the surrounding medium (the ambient temperature),

where T = the temperature of the body (C), t = time (min),

k = the proportionality constant (per minute), and Ta = the ambient temperature (C).
Suppose that a cup of coffee originally has a temperature of 68C. Use Eulers method to compute the temperature from t = 0 to
10 min using a step size of 1 min if Ta = 21C and k = 0.1/min.
Eulers method:
Q2
Determine the number of terms necessary to approximate

to 4 significant figures using the Maclaurin series approximation

Calculate the approximation using a value of x = 0.3.

Q3
(a) Evaluate the polynomial y = x3 6.2x2 + 8x 1.5 at x = 1.37. Use 3-digit arithmetic (3 S.F.) with chopping. Evaluate the true
percent relative error t.
(b) Repeat (a) by using 3-digit arithmetic (3 S.F.) with rounding. Evaluate the error t. Comment your results between part (a)
and (b).
(c) Repeat (a) but express y in nested form as y = ((x 6.2)x + 8)x 1.5 . Evaluate the error t and compare with part(a).
Comment your results.
Ans: (a) 0.47 (b) 0.37 (c) 0.40

Q4
Use zero- through third-order Taylor series expansions to predict f(4) for f(x) = 20x3 6x2 + 7x 50 using a base point at x=1.
Compute the t for each approximation.
Ans: 0th order: -29, 2nd order: 622

Q5
Given the function: f(x) = 25x3 6x2 + 7x - 88
(a) Use the forward, backward and centered difference approximations to evaluate the first derivative of the function at xi = 2
using a step size of h = 0.25. Compute the t and interpret your results.
(b) Calculate the remainder term O(h) for forward and backward difference approximation and remainder term O(h2) for centered
difference approximation (recall Eq. 4.15 & 4.16 in textbook). Compare the values the remainder term with the true error |Et|
(recall Eq.3.2) for each case and comment your results.
Ans: (b) forward: O(h)=36, |Et|=37.6 ; centered: O(h2)=1.562, |Et|=1.56

Q6
Estimate the uncertainty for the following case:
(a) A wall has a measured height H = 2.00 0.03 m. The wall has a light switch at a height h = 0.88 0.04 measured from the
base of the wall. Find the distance, D from the switch to the top of the wall and its uncertainty.
(b) A car travels a distance d = 1120 3 m during a time t = 20.0 1.2 s. Evaluate the average speed V of the car and its
uncertainty.

Internal

(c) The period of an oscillating pendulum is measured to be T = 0.20 0.01 s. Find the frequency f of the oscillation and its
uncertainty.
(d) Use ideal gas law to calculate the temperature in Kelvin (with its uncertainty) of 1 mol of an ideal gas at P = 275.00 kPa and
V = 12.500 L. The uncertainties in the pressure and volume measurements are 0.04 kPa and 0.005 L, respectively. Constant R =
8.314 L.kPa/(mol .K)

Q7
Determine the real root of
(a) Graphically using hand or excel plot.
(b) Using bisection to determine the root to s = 10%. Employ initial guesses of

= 0.5 and

= 1.0.

Ans: (b) after i=5, xr =0.5312

Q8
Determine the real root of
(a) analytically, and

(b) with the false-position method to within

Ans: (b) after i=4, xr =3.4435

Internal

= 2.5% and 4 significant figures. Use initial guesses of 2.0 and 5.0.