CHE 555 NUMERICAL METHODS & OPTIMIZATION

TUTORIAL CHAPTER 2
Instruction: All the answer must compared with the answer from Matlab (fzero function)
and Excel (solver function). Standardize all calculation up to 4 decimal points.
1. Determine the lowest positive root of f(x) = (x - 4) 2 - 3; Perform the computation to a >=
0.5%.
(a) Graphically.
(b) Using false-position (initial guesses of 2 and 4)
(c) Using the Newton-Raphson method (xi =3).
(d) Using the secant method (five iteration, xi-1 = 0.5 and xi = 1).
2. The mass balance of the pollutant in the river as given in the following equation:

dP M QP KVP 2

dt
V
where mass of the water, M = 1 x 106 g/yr, volume rate of the water, Q = 1 x 10 5 m3/yr,
equilibrium constant, K = 0.25 m3/g.yr and volume of the water, V = 1 x 106 m3.
Determine the concentration of the pollutant, P (g/m3) at the steady state concentration by
using Secant method with Pi-1 = 0 g/m3 and Pi = 1 g/m3.
3. You are designing a spherical tank to hold water for a small village in a developing
V h2

3R h
3

country. The volume of liquid it can hold can be computed as

where V =
3
volume (m ), h = depth of the water in tank (m) and R = tank radius (m). If R = 3 m,
determine depth of the tank (by using false position methods) so that its can be load with
30 m3 of water.
4. The famous Ergun equation is commonly used to predict the pressure drop across a
packed bed in a packed column:
P D p 3
1
150
1.75
2
Go L 1
D p Go

Use Newton Raphson method to determine the void fraction (). Given: o = 1;

P D p
DG
20 and p o 1000
2

Go L