Numerical Methods for Chemical Engineers Using Excel, VBA, and MATLAB

1 Roots of a Single Nonlinear Equation

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Many engineering problems require the solution of a single nonlinear equation. Such an equation can always be cast into the form

The objective of this chapter is to study methods and learn of Excel^® tools for finding the root(s) of a nonlinear equation, that is, for finding x such that f(x) = 0.

Simple algebra provides the root for a linear equation. However, for more complex (nonlinear or transcendental) equations, it is often the case that no analytical solution is available, or is difficult ...