Numerical Methods Lec.

APPROXIMATION OF ROOTS OF FUNCTIONS

USING NEWTON-RAPHSON METHOD
Dr. Ndung’u Reuben M.
Non-linear Equations
Consider a non-linear equation . If for , , then is called a zero
or root of the equation.
The methods of finding roots numerically may be classified into the following two types:
1. Direct methods: these methods yields exact solution in a finite number of elementary
arithmetic operations. In these methods no knowledge of an initial approximation are
required. The methods are used for solving polynomial equations.
2. Iterative methods: these methods use successive approximation to the solution. The
method begins with the first approximation which is successively improved till the
desired results are obtained.
Approximating the root has two stages:
a) Isolating the root i.e. finding the smallest possible interval containing one and
only one root of ,
b) Improving the value of the approximate roots to the specified degree of accuracy.

Newton Raphson Formula

Newton-Raphson method is used for finding the roots/zeros of a nonlinear function of on

the interval . It is also referred to as the Newton’s method.
At any given point shown in Fig. 3.2, we can approximate the function by a Taylor series for
about by,

which leads to

or

Since we are trying to find an approximation to with , we can use the

approximation in the above expression. Thus we have the standard Newton
iterative formula

DEKUT-MPS Page 1 of 4
Numerical Methods Lec. 5

The iterative procedure starts from an initial guess and continues until the relative error for
two successive approximations becomes less than or equal to the prescribed tolerance/criterion.
A good initial guess will use less number of steps, however, if there is no obvious initial good
starting point, you can start at any point on the interval .

Worked example

1. Find the root of in the interval using Newton-Raphson method

correct to decimal places.
Solution
and
Since the root is in the interval let , then by NR method

Iteration 1: Taking

Iteration 2: Taking

Iteration 3: Taking

Iteration 4: Taking

Iteration 5: Taking

2. Find the root of in the interval using Newton-Raphson method

correct to decimal places.
Solution
and
Since the root is in the interval let , then by NR method

DEKUT-MPS Page 2 of 4
Numerical Methods Lec. 5

Using Newton-Raphson formula to approximates roots of numbers

Illustration using square root.

Suppose that we are seeking an expression for finding the square root of and then use it to
compute iteratively.
Procedure.
Let or . Then we have .
Newton-Raphson method yields

To find , if and . This implies that and .

In general, to find the root of a number , we solve or .

Let . Then .
By Newton-Raphson formula, which becomes,

Therefore the iterative formula for the fifth root is

DEKUT-MPS Page 3 of 4
Numerical Methods Lec. 5

Combined Exercises
1) Apply the Newton-Raphson method to find the root of with .
2) Using Newton-Raphson method find the real root of the equation correct to
four decimal places.
3) Find by Newton-Raphson method, the real root of the equation .
4) Using Newton-Raphson method, find a root of the equation
correct to three decimal places, assuming the root is near .

5) Derive the formula to determine the square root of . Hence calculate

the square root of .
6) Find the positive root of the equation by Newton-Raphson
method.
7) Apply Newton’s formula to prove that the recurrence formula for finding the roots of
is

8) Find a positive root of correct to four decimal places by Newton-Raphson’s method.

9) Find the Newton-Raphson iterative formula to find the root of a positive number and
hence find the fourth-root of .
10) The volume of liquid in a hollow horizontal cylinder of radius and length is related to
the depth of the liquid by . Determine given
, and .
11) The concentration of pollutant bacteria in a lake decreases according to
. Determine the time required for the bacteria concentration to be reduced to
using the Newton-Raphson method with an initial guess of correct to decimal places.
12) An oscillating current in an electric circuit is described by , where is in
seconds. Determine all values of such that .
13) A study prepared for a certain town’s chamber of commerce projected that the town’s
population in the next years will grow according to the rule
where denotes the population months from now. Using the model, estimate the
time when the population will reach .

DEKUT-MPS Page 4 of 4