Chapter 05.

03
Newtons Divided Difference Interpolation
More Examples
Chemical Engineering
Example 1
To find how much heat is required to bring a kettle of water to its boiling point, you are asked
to calculate the specific heat of water at 61C . The specific heat of water is given as a
function of time in Table 1.
Table 1 Specific heat of water as a function of temperature.
Temperature,
Specific heat,
Cp
T

C
22
42
52
82
100

05.03.1

kg

4181
4179
4186
4199
4217

05.03.2

Chapter 05.03

Figure 1 Specific heat of water vs. temperature.

Determine the value of the specific heat at T 61C using Newtons divided difference
method of interpolation and a first order polynomial.
Solution
For linear interpolation, the specific heat is given by
C p (T ) b0 b1 (T T0 )

Since we want to find the velocity at T 61C , and we are using a first order polynomial
we need to choose the two data points that are closest to T 61C that also bracket
T 61C to evaluate it. The two points are T 52 and T 82 .
Then
T0 52, C p (T0 ) 4186
T1 82, C p (T1 ) 4199

gives

b0 C p (T0 )

4186
C p (T 1 ) C p (T 0 )
b1
T 1 T 0
4199 4186

82 52
0.43333

Hence

C p (T ) b0 b1 (T T0 )

Newtons Divided Difference Interpolation More Examples: Chemical Engineering 05.03.3

4186 0.43333(T 52),

At T 61 ,

52 T 82

C p (61) 4186 0.43333(61 52)

4189.9

J
kg C

If we expand

C p (T ) 4186 0.43333(T 52),

we get

52 T 82

C p (T ) 4163.5 0.43333T ,

52 T 82

and this is the same expression as obtained in the direct method.

Example 2
To find how much heat is required to bring a kettle of water to its boiling point, you are asked
to calculate the specific heat of water at 61C . The specific heat of water is given as a
function of time in Table 2.
Table 2 Specific heat of water as a function of temperature.
Temperature,
Specific heat,
Cp
T

kg C

22
42
52
82
100

4181
4179
4186
4199
4217

Determine the value of the specific heat at T 61C using Newtons divided difference
method of interpolation and a second order polynomial. Find the absolute relative
approximate error for the second order polynomial approximation.
Solution
For quadric interpolation, the specific heat is given by
C p (T ) b0 b1 (T T0 ) b2 (T T0 )(T T1 )

Since we want to find the specific heat at T 61C , and we are using a second order
polynomial, we need to choose the three data points that are closest to T 61C that also
bracket T 61C to evaluate it. The three points are T0 42, T1 52, and T2 82 .
Then
T0 42, C p (T0 ) 4179
T1 52, C p (T1 ) 4186

T2 82, C p (T2 ) 4199

gives

b0 C p (T0 )

05.03.4

Chapter 05.03
4179
C p (T1 ) C p (T0 )
b1
T1 T0
4186 4179

52 42
0.7
C p (T2 ) C p (T1 )

b2

T2 T1

C p (T1 ) C p (T0 )
T1 T0

T2 T0
4199 4186 4186 4179

82

52
52 42

82 42
0.43333 0.7
40
6.6667 10 3

Hence

C p (T ) b0 b1 (T T0 ) b2 (T T0 )(T T1 )

42 T 82

4179 0.7(T 42) 6.6667 10 3 (T 42)(T 52),

At

T 61,

C p (61) 4179 0.7(61 42) 6.6667 10 3 (61 42)(61 52)

4191.2

J
kg C

The absolute relative approximate error

second order polynomial is
a

obtained between the results from the first and

4191.2 4189.9
100
4191.2

0.030063%

If we expand
we get

C p (T ) 4179 0.7(T 42) 6.6667 10 3 (T 42)(T 52),

42 T 82

C p T 4135.0 1.3267T 6.6667 10 3 T 2 ,

42 T 82

This is the same expression obtained by the direct method.

Example 3
To find how much heat is required to bring a kettle of water to its boiling point, you are asked
to calculate the specific heat of water at 61C . The specific heat of water is given as a
function of time in Table 3.
Table 3 Specific heat of water as a function of temperature.
Temperature,
Specific heat,
Cp
T

kg C

Newtons Divided Difference Interpolation More Examples: Chemical Engineering 05.03.5

22
42
52
82
100

4181
4179
4186
4199
4217

Determine the value of the specific heat at T 61C using Newtons divided difference
method of interpolation and a third order polynomial. Find the absolute relative approximate
error for the third order polynomial approximation.
Solution
For a third order polynomial, the specific heat profile is given by

C p (T ) b0 b1 (T T0 ) b2 (T T0 )(T T1 ) b3 (T T0 )(T T1 )(T T2 )

Since we want to find the specific heat at T 61C , and we are using a third order
polynomial, we need to choose the four data points that are closest to T 61C that also
bracket T 61C . The four data points are T0 42, T1 52, T2 82 and T3 100 .
(Choosing the four points as T0 22 , T1 42 , T2 52 and T3 82 is equally valid.)
T0 42,

C p (T0 ) 4179

T1 52,
T2 82,

C p (T1 ) 4186
C p (T2 ) 4199

T3 100, C p (T3 ) 4217

then

b0 C p [T0 ]

C p (T0 )

4179

b1 C p [T1 , T0 ]

C p (T1 ) C p (T0 )

T1 T0
4186 4179

52 42
0. 7

b2 C p [T2 , T1 , T0 ]

C p [T2 , T1 ] C p [T1 , T0 ]

C p [T2 , T1 ]

T2 T0
C p (T2 ) C p (T1 )

T2 T1
4199 4186

82 52

0.43333
C p [T1 , T0 ] 0.7

05.03.6

Chapter 05.03

b2

C p [T2 , T1 ] C p [T1 , T0 ]

T2 T0
0.43333 0.7

82 42
6.6667 10 3

b3 C p T3 , T2 , T1 , T0

C p [T3 , T2 , T1 ] C p [T2 , T1 , T0 ]

C p [T3 , T2 , T1 ]

C p [T3 , T2 ]

T3 T0
C p [T3 , T2 ] C p [T2 , T1 ]

T3 T1
C p (T3 ) C p (T2 )

T3 T2
4217 4199

100 82

C p [T2 , T1 ]

C p (T2 ) C p (T1 )

T2 T1
4199 4186

82 52
0.43333

C p [T3 , T2 , T1 ]

C p [T3 , T2 ] C p [T2 , T1 ]

T3 T1
1 0.43333

100 52
0.011806

C p [T2 , T1 , T0 ] 6.6667 10 3
b3 C p [T3 , T2 , T1 , T0 ]

C p [T3 , T2 , T1 ] C p [T2 , T1 , T0 ]
T3 T0

0.011806 6.6667 10 3
100 42
3.1849 10 4

Hence

C p (T ) b0 b1 (T T0 ) b2 (T T0 )(T T1 ) b3 (T T0 )(T T1 )(T T2 )

4179 0.7(T 42) 6.6667 10 3 (T 42)(T 52)
3.1849 10 4 (T 42)(T 52)(T 82),

At

42 T 100

T 61,

C p (61) 4179 0.7(61 42) 6.6667 10 3 (61 42)(61 52)

3.1849 10 4 (61 42)(61 52)(61 82)

Newtons Divided Difference Interpolation More Examples: Chemical Engineering 05.03.7

4190.0

J
kg C

The absolute relative approximate error

and third order polynomial is
a

obtained between the results from the second

4190.0 4191.2
100
4190.0

0.027295%
If we expand
C p (T ) 4179 0.7(T 42) 6.6667 10 3 (T 42)(T 52)

3.1849 10 4 (T 42)(T 52)(T 82),

42 T 100

we get
C p (T ) 4078.0 4.4771T 0.06272T 2 3.1849 10 4 T 3 , 42 T 100

This is the same expression as obtained in the direct method.

INTERPOLATION
Topic
Newtons Divided Difference Interpolation
Summary Examples of Newtons divided difference interpolation.
Major
Chemical Engineering
Authors
Autar Kaw
Date
June 2, 2016
Web Site http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu