Date assigned: March 16, 2018

Date due: March 23, 2018

MAT202E Numerical Methods
Homework 4

1. The adsorption of propane on a zeolite has been measured and the following data have been
obtained at 308 K. n represents the number of moles adsorbed at a certain pressure, P. Such
adsorption data may be represented by using different equations, such as Langmuir and
𝑘𝑃
Freundlich equations. The Langmuir and Freundlich equations are written as n = m 1+𝑘𝑃 and

n = bPa, respectively. Determine the constants in both equations and then decide which
equation fits better to the adsorption data given below.

P, kPa n, mol/kg
1.11 0.542
2.07 0.928
3.16 1.221
4.79 1.439
11.49 1.731
24.96 1.915
48.15 2.034

2. Which four points are best to use for constructing a cubic polynomial if we want to find
f(0.25)? Investigate at least three possible cases and calculate the corresponding errors for
your decision.

x f(x)
0.1 9.9833
0.2 4.9667
0.3 3.2836
0.4 2.4339
0.5 1.9177

3. The following data was gathered to determine the relationship between pressure and
temperature of a fixed volume of 1 kg nitrogen. The volume is 10 m3.

T, oC -40 0 40 80 120 160

P, N/m2 6900 8100 9300 10500 11700 12900

Employ the ideal gas law (pV=nRT) to determine R on the basis of this data by using the least
square methods. Note that for the law, T must be expressed in kelvins.
4. Heat capacity (Cp) values of an industrially important cycloalkane, methyl cyclohexane
(C7H14) as a function of temperature (K) were given below.

Temperature (K) 150 200 250 300

Cp (kJ/kg K) 1.43 1.54 1.70 1.89

Use Newton divided difference and Lagrange Interpolation Polynomials to estimate heat
capacity at 225 K employing quadratic and cubic interpolation polynomials.