SECTION 4.

6 NEWTONS METHOD 1

4.6 NEWTONS METHOD

EXAMPLE A Find all roots of the equation x 4 5x 3 4x 2 x 13 0 correct

to eight decimal places.

30 SOLUTION Figure 1 shows a graph of f x x 4 5x 3 4x 2 x 13 and we

see that the roots are near 2.2 and 3.8. The formula for Newtons Method is

x n4 5x n3 4x n2 x n 13
x n1 x n
4x n3 15x n2 8x n 1
_2 5
Using Newtons Method with the initial approximations from the graph, we get
_1 x 1 2.2 x 1 3.8
FIGURE 1
x 2 2.22577566 x 2 3.76551041

x 3 2.22578253 x 3 3.76419061

x 4 2.22578253 x 4 3.76418872

x 5 376418872

The roots of the given equation, correct to eight decimal places, are 2.22578253 and
3.76418872.
Thomson Brooks-Cole copyright 2007