Finding Roots

(for the skydiver problem analyzed in class)

Function definition
m 68.1 g =

2
9.807 v 40 t 10
f
(
(c
)
)
m g
c

1

c
m
t

v
Graphical Solution
c , 10 10.1 20
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
-10
-8
12
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 20
f
(
(c
)
)
c
root approximation: c =15
add vertical and horizontal markers to better estimate the root value
MathCAD "true" value
c 15 initial guess
c
t
(
( , f
(
(c
)
) c
)
) = c
t
14.7941 = f

c
t

7.105 10
15
Solution to the skydiver problem:
drag coefficient: = c
t
14.794 units: N/(m/s)
terminal velocity: =
m g
c
44.522 units: m/s = 44.492 99.526
Non-Commercial Use Only
Bisection Method starting interval: c
l
14 c
u
16
1st
iteration:
= c
l
14 = c
u
16 c
r

+ c
l
c
u
2
= c
r
15
a

|
|
|

c
u
c
l
+ c
u
c
l
|
|
|
100
= f

c
l

1.597 = f

c
u

2.243 = f

c
r

0.398 =
a
6.667
2nd
iteration:
c
l_new

, , < f

c
l

c
r

0 c
l
c
r

= c
l_new
14 c
l
c
l_new
c
u_new

, , < f

c
u

c
r

0 c
u
c
r

= c
u_new
15 c
u
c
u_new
c
r_new

+ c
l_new
c
u_new
2
= c
r_new
14.5

t

|
|
|

c
t
c
r_new
c
t
|
|
|
100 =
t
1.988

a

|
|
|

c
r_new
c
r
c
r_new
|
|
|
100 =
a
3.448 =
|
|
|

c
u_new
c
l_new
+ c
u_new
c
l_new
|
|
|
100 3.448
update c_l and c_u values above (or copy and past) to continue iterations
False-Position Method
c
l
14 c
u
16 c
r
c
u

f

c
u

c
l
c
u

c
l

c
u

= c
r
14.832
1st
iteration:
= f

c
l

1.597 = f

c
r

0.073 = f

c
u

2.243
c
l_new

, , < f

c
l

c
r

0 c
l
c
r

= c
l_new
14
2nd
iteration:
c
u_new

, , < f

c
u

c
r

0 c
u
c
r

= c
u_new
14.832
c
r_new
c
u_new

f

c
u_new

c
l_new
c
u_new

c
l_new

c
u_new

= c
r_new
14.795

t

|
|
|

c
t
c
r_new
c
t
|
|
|
100 =
t
0.008

a

|
|
|

c
r_new
c
r
c
r_new
|
|
|
100 =
a
0.246
update c_l and c_u values above (or copy and past) to continue iterations
Non-Commercial Use Only
Fixed-Point Iteration
rearranging the f(c)=0 equation gives:
c_next
(
(c
)
)
m g
v

1

c
m
t

Doing the calculations by hand:

= c_next
(
(15
)
) 14.851 1st iteration
= c_next
(
(14.851
)
) 14.81 2nd iteration
= c_next
(
(14.81
)
) 14.799
= c_next
(
(14.799
)
) 14.795
Using a range variable for iteration
c
0
15
N 7 number of iterations
i 0 N 1
c
+ i 1

m g
v

1

c
i
m
t

= c
15.0000
14.8508
14.8099
14.7985
14.7954
14.7945
14.7942
14.7942

Non-Commercial Use Only

Newton-Raphson Method
(
(c
)
)
(
( , , m g t
)
)
f'
(
(c
)
)
d
dc

m g
c

1

c
m
t

+
g t

c t
m
c

g m

c t
m
1

c
2
c
0
15
N 3 number of iterations
i 0 N 1
c
+ i 1
c
i

f

c
i

f'

c
i

= c
15
14.7925
14.7941
14.7941

Secant Method
(
(c
)
)
c
0
14
two initial estimates required
c
1
16
N 5 number of iterations
i 1 N 1
c
+ i 1
c
i

f

c
i

c
i 1
c
i

c
i 1

c
i

= c
14.0000
16.0000
14.8317
14.7923
14.7941
14.7941

Non-Commercial Use Only