MTH154S Tutorial 8 Differentiation Applications

Newton-Raphson Iteration Method

Introduction
In this tutorial we will explore Newton-Raphson’s method for finding the root of equations,
as explained in the class and the in the given references. In fact, only one initial guess of the
root is needed to get the iterative process started to find the root of an equation. It should be
noted that, the student before he/she starts answering the tutorial questions in section D,
he/she must first go through the derivation of the Newton-Raphson formula in section A, in
section B and the two examples in section C. These are essential for understanding the
tutorial.

A. Derivation
The Newton-Raphson method is based on the principle that if the initial guess of the root of
f ( x)  0 is at xn , then if one draws the tangent to the curve at f ( xn ) , the point xn 1 where
the tangent crosses the x -axis is an improved estimate of the root (Figure 1).
Using the definition of the slope of a function, at x  xn
f xn  = tan θ
f xn   0
= ,
xn  xn 1
which gives
f xn 
xn 1 = xn  (1)
f xn 
Equation (1) is called the Newton-Raphson formula for solving nonlinear equations of the
form f x   0 . So starting with an initial guess, xn , one can find the next guess, xn 1 , by
using Equation (1). One can repeat this process until one finds the root within a desirable
tolerance.

Algorithm
The steps of the Newton-Raphson method to find the root of an equation f x   0 are
1. Evaluate f x  symbolically
2. Use an initial guess of the root, xn , to estimate the new value of the root, xn 1 , as
f xn 
xn 1 = xn 
f xn 
3. Compare and find out if the satisfies , else stop the process, if not, then go to Step
2 Also, check if the number of iterations are within requires decimal positions. If
so, one needs to terminate the process and verify the answer.

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Newton-Raphson Method 03.04.2

f (x)

f (xn) [xn, f (xn)]

f (xn+1)

θ
x
xn+2 xn+1 xn

Figure 1 Geometrical illustration of the Newton-Raphson method.

B. Derivation of Newton-Raphson method from Taylor series

Newton-Raphson method can also be derived from Taylor series. For a general
function f x  , the Taylor series is
f"xn 
f xn 1   f xn   f xn xn 1  xn  + xn 1  xn 2  
2!
As an approximation, taking only the first two terms of the right hand side,
f xn 1   f xn   f xn xn 1  xn 
and we are seeking a point where f x  0, that is, if we assume
f xn 1   0 ,
0  f xn   f xn xn 1  xn 
which gives
f  xn 
xn1  xi 
f'xn 
This is the same Newton-Raphson method formula series as derived previously using the
geometric method.

C. Example:
Use the Newton-Raphson method of finding roots of equation to show three iteration on the
function given by
f x   x 3  0.165x 2  3.993  10 4

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Newton-Raphson Method 03.04.3

Solution
f x   x 3  0.165x 2  3.993  10 4
f x   3x 2  0.33x
Let us assume the initial guess of the root of f x   0 is x0  0.05 m. this is a reasonable
guess (discuss why x  0 and x  0.11 m are not good choices) as the extreme values of the
depth x would be 0 and the diameter (0.11 m) of the ball.
Iteration 1
The estimate of the root is
f  x0 
x1  x0 
f x0 

 0.05 
0.05  0.1650.05  3.993  10 4
3 2

30.05  0.330.05
2

1.118  10 4
 0.05 
 9  10 3
 0.05   0.01242
 0.06242

Iteration 2
The estimate of the root is
f x1 
x2  x1 
f x1 

 0.06242 
0.062423  0.1650.062422  3.993  10 4
30.06242  0.330.06242
2

 3.97781 10 7
 0.06242 
 8.90973  10 3

 0.06242  4.4646 10 5 
 0.06238
Iteration 3
The estimate of the root is
f x2 
x3  x 2 
f x2 

 0.06238 
0.06238  0.1650.06238  3.993  10 4
3 2

30.06238  0.330.06238
2

4.44  10 11
 0.06238 
 8.91171 10 3

 0.06238   4.9822 109 
 0.06238

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Newton-Raphson Method 03.04.4

D. Newton-Raphson Exercises

Use Newton-Raphson method to obtain the positive roots of the following equations
(questions 1 – 7) to the degrees of accuracy stated.

1. x 2  2 x  13  0 (correct to 3 decimal places)

2. 3x 3  10x  14 (correct to 4 significant digits)

3. x 4  3x 3  7 x  12 (correct to 3 decimal places)

4. 3x 4  4 x 3  7 x  12  0 (correct to 3 decimal places)

5. ex  x  2 (correct to 4 significant digits)

6. x 2  4 cos x (correct to 2 decimal places)

7. 3ln x  4x  5 (correct to 3 decimal places)

8. Solve x  2  ln x  0 for the root near 3, correct to 3 decimal places

9. A damped oscillation of a system is given by:

y  7.4e 0.5t sin 3t

Determine the value of t near to 4.2, correct to 3 significant digits, when the magnitude
y of the oscillation is zero

10. The critical speeds of oscillation,  of a loaded beam are given by the equation:

3  3.2502    0.063  0
Determine the value of  which is approximately equal to 3.0 correct to 4 decimal
places

Answers

1) 4.742 4) 1.491 8) 3.146 10) 2.9143

2) 2.313 5) 1.146 7) 1.147

3) 2.648 6) 1.20 9) 4.19