Convergence analysis of fixed point method:

Quadratic convergence of Newton’s method:

 Application of Root finding Methods: Solving a Nonlinear
Equation

Example 1: An electric power cable is suspended (at points of equal height)

from two towers that are 100 meters apart. The cable is allowed to dip 10
meters in the middle. How long is the cable?

Solution:
It is known that the curve assumed by a suspended cable is a catenary.
Questions: What is catenary?
Answer: A catenary is a hyperbolic cosine.
When the y-axis passes through the lowest point, we can assume an equation of
the form
y(x) = λ cosh(x/λ).
Here λ is the distance of the origin of coordinates below the lowest point and
the parameter λ is to be determined.
The conditions of the problem are that y(50) = y(0) +10= λ+10.
Hence, we obtain
y(50)= λ cosh(50/λ)
such that

Introducing any one of the methods discussed in this chapter, the parameter is
found to be λ = 126.632. After this value is substituted into the arc length
formula of the catenary
s =2 λ sinh(x/ λ)=2*126.632*sinh(50/126.632)
, the length is determined to be s=102.619 meters.
Example-2 in details (Similar to Ex-1): Find the arc length of a catenary
suspended between two equal poles at equal height. The distance between the
poles is 400 feet, and it sags in the center 40 feet.
Solution:
Take the x axis horizontal and the y axis vertical, through (but not at) the lowest
point. Let s be the length of arc measured from C, the lowest point, to any
point, P, and let w be the weight per unit length of the chain. We let 'phi' be the
angle the tangent at P makes with the horizontal.

Consider the equilibrium of the portion CP. The forces on it are the tension T at
P along the tangent at P, the horizontal tension T' at C, and the weight ws.
Resolving horizontally and vertically,

T cos(phi) = T' and T sin(phi) = ws

By division: ws/T' = tan(phi) = dy/dx

If we write T' in the form wa, i.e. if the tension at the lowest point is equal to
the weight of a length 'a' of the chain, we have

dy/dx = ws/wa = s/a

Now ds/dx = sqrt[1 + (dy/dx)^2] = sqrt[1 + s^2/a^2]

sqrt(a^2 + s^2)
= ---------------
a

ds dx
-------------- = -------
sqrt(a^2 + s^2) a
Integrating: sinh^(-1)(s/a) = x/a + const

at x = 0, s = 0, so const = 0

So we get s/a = sinh(x/a)

But we had dy/dx = s/a = sinh(x/a) so integrating

y = a cosh(x/a) + const.
Now when x = 0, y = a cosh(0) + const
y = a + const,
and it is convenient to choose the origin so that the const. is zero. So if y = a
when x = 0, we get
y = a cosh(x/a)
and 'a' is the distance of the origin of coordinates below the lowest point.
Now, considering the problem as set in the question, when x = 200, the value of
y is a+40, so we have
a+40 = a cosh(200/a)
Trial and error shows a = 507 (approx.). With this value, the left hand side is
547, and the right hand side 546.962

So using this value in the equation s = a sinh(x/a) for x = 200 we get

s = 507 sinh(200/507)

= 507 sinh(.39447)

= 507 x 0.40479

= 205.22
This is for half the span, so the total length of chain is 2 x 205.22
Length of chain = 410.455 feet.
If we carry forward the solution of the equation for a to 3 places of decimals,
we get
a = 506.489

So we get s = 506.489 sinh(200/506.489)

= 205.238, so the total length = 410.476 feet.

Example 3
Thermistors are temperature-measuring devices based on the principle that the
thermistor material exhibits a change in electrical resistance with a change in
temperature. By measuring the resistance of the thermistor material, one can
then determine the temperature.
For a 10K3A Betatherm thermistor,

Thermally
conductive epoxy
coating

Tin plated copper

alloy lead wires

Figure 1 A typical thermistor.

the relationship between the resistance R of the thermistor and the temperature
is given by
= 1.129241 × 10 −3 + 2.341077 × 10 − 4 ln( R) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(R )}
1 3

T
where T is in Kelvin and R is in ohms.

A thermistor error of no more than ± 0.01°C is acceptable. To find the range of

the resistance that is within this acceptable limit at 19°C , we need to solve
= 1.129241 × 10 −3 + 2.341077 × 10 − 4 ln( R) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(R )}
1 3

19.01 + 273.15
and
= 1.129241 × 10 −3 + 2.341077 × 10 − 4 ln( R) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(R )}
1 3

18.99 + 273.15
Use the Newton-Raphson method of finding roots of equations to find the
resistance R at 18.99 °C . Conduct three iterations to estimate the root of the
above equation. Find the absolute relative approximate error at the end of each
iteration and the number of significant digits at least correct at the end of each
iteration.

Solution
Solving
 = 1.129241 × 10 −3 + 2.341077 × 10 − 4 ln( R) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(R )}
1 3

18.99 + 273.15
we get
f (R ) = 2.341077 × 10 −4 ln( R) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(R )} − 2.293775 × 10 −3
3

2.341077 × 10 −4 + 2.6326404 × 10 −7 {ln( R)}2

f ′(R ) =
R
Let us take the initial guess of the root of f (R ) = 0 as R0 = 15000.

Iteration 1
The estimate of the root is
f ( R0 )
R1 = R0 −
f ′(R0 )
 2.341077 × 10 −4 ln(15000) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(15000 )}3 
 
 − 2.293775 × 10 −3 
= 15000 −  
−4 −7
2.341077 × 10 + 2.6326404 × 10 {ln(15000)} 2

15000
−5
3.5383 × 10
= 15000 −
1.7230 × 10 −8
= 15000 − 2053.5
= 12946
The absolute relative approximate error ∈a at the end of Iteration 1 is
R1 − R0
∈a = × 100
R1
12946 − 15000
= × 100
12946
= 15.862%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 0, as you need an absolute
relative approximate error of less than 5% for one significant digit to be correct
in your result.

Iteration 2
The estimate of the root is
f (R1 )
R2 = R1 −
f ′(R1 )
  2.341077 × 10 −4 ln(12946) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(12946 )}3 
 
 − 2.293775 × 10 −3 
= 12946 −  −4 −7

2.341077 × 10 + 2.6326404 × 10 {ln(12946)} 2

12946
−6
− 2.6140 × 10
= 12946 −
1.9906 × 10 −8
= 12946 − (− 131.32 )
= 13078
The absolute relative approximate error ∈a at the end of Iteration 2 is
R2 − R1
∈a = × 100
R2
13078 − 12946
= × 100
13078
= 1.0041%
The number of significant digits at least correct is 1, as the absolute relative
approximate error is less than 5% .

Iteration 3
The estimate of the root is
f (R2 )
R3 = R2 −
f ′(R2 )
 2.341077 × 10 −4 ln(13078) + 8.775468 × 10 −8 {ln(13078)}3 
 
 − 2.293775 × 10 −3 
= 13078 −  
−4 −7
2.341077 × 10 + 2.6326404 × 10 {ln(13078)} 2

13078
−8
− 1.2914 × 10
= 13078 −
1.9710 × 10 −8
= 13078 − (− 0.65519 )
= 13078
The absolute relative approximate error ∈a at the end of Iteration 3 is
R3 − R2
∈a = × 100
R3

13078 − 13078
= × 100
13078
= 0.0050097%
Hence the number of significant digits at least correct is given by the largest
value of m for which
∈a ≤ 0.5 × 10 2− m
0.0050097 ≤ 0.5 × 10 2− m
0.010019 ≤ 10 2− m
log(0.010019 ) ≤ 2 − m
m ≤ 2 − log(0.010019 ) = 3.9992
So
m=3
The number of significant digits at least correct in the estimated root 13078 is 3.
Ignore example 4 at this stage:
Example 4:
Kirchhoff's voltage law (KVL) states that around a loop:

sum of voltage rises=sum of voltage drops

Figure-3
Applying KVL around the three loops in Fig. 3 gives the following equations:

V1=Vx (KVL around loop 1)

Vx +V4=V2+V3 KVL around loop 2
V1+V4= V2+V3 KVL around loop 3

Notice that equation (4) can be obtained directly from equations (2) and (3), so
these equations are redundant. It turns out that any two of the
equations (2), (3) and (4) are independent.

KVL is true because voltage rises and drops are defined to be gains and losses,
respectively, in electric potential energy of a +1 C charge. Since a loop starts
and ends at the same place, the gains and losses around the loop must balance
according to the conservation of energy. Therefore, the sum of the voltage rises
encountered around the loop equals the sum of the voltage drops around the
same loop.
Kirchhoff’s Laws:
1. The sum of all voltage changes around any closed loop is zero:
Sum(i=1,n) ∆V_i = 0
2. The sum of all currents at any node is zero.
Sum(i=1,n) ∆I_i = 0
Application of these two laws to an electrical circuit facilitates the
formulation of a system of n linear equations when n unknown quantities
exist.

Consider the circuit, consisting of a voltage source, a resistor, and a diode,

shown in Figure 1.

Suppose we wish to find the current running through this circuit. To do so, we
can use Kirchhoff's voltage law (KVL) which says that the sum of the voltages
around a loop is zero. For this, we need the model of diode which states that the
relationship between the current and the voltage across a diode is given by the
equation
I=I_s[exp(V/nVt)-1]
Where
I=current through diode in Amps=V/Rd
R_d=Dynamics resistance
I_s=the diode’s saturation current.
Vt=thermal voltage
V=applied voltage in Volts
n=2, emission coefficient; for small-signal diodes.
Solving this equation for the voltage v and using values IS = 8.3e-10 A, VT = 0.7
V, and n = 2, we get from KVL that

This equation cannot be solved exactly for the current with any of the tools
available in an undergraduate program (it requires the use of the Lambert W
function). Therefore we must resort to using numerical methods:

Defining the left hand side of the equation to be v(i), we have to solve v(i) = 0
for i, and we will continue iterating until εstep < 1e-10 and εabs < 1e-5.Table 1.
Newton's method applied to v(i).

n in in + 1 |v(in + 1)| |in + 1 - in|

0 0.0 2.964283918e-10 0.0724 2.96e-10
1 2.964283918e-10 3.547336588e-10 1.81e-3 5.83e-11
2 3.547336588-10 3.562680160-10 1.17e-5 1.53e-12
3 3.562680160e-10 3.562690102e-10 2.63e-9 9.94e-16

Therefore, the current is approximately 3.562690102e-10 A.

Note: In mathematics, the Lambert-W function, also called the

omega function or product logarithm, is a set offunctions, namely the branches
of the inverse relation of the function f(z) = zez where ez is the
exponentialfunction and z is any complex number.