We will consider the problem of calculating the equilibrium conditions given the equilibrium constant and initial conditions. This problem leads to the solution of polynomial equations. When the polynomial is a quadratic, then the explicit solutions for the roots can be used. However, for higher order polynomial equations the roots must be found by numerical approaches which involve refinement of an initial guess by an iterative calculation.
The method of Newton-Raphson for finding roots will be described and illustrated on a spreadsheet.
To prepare for this lecture, we suggest that you read section 9-3 and appendices C-2 and C-4 of Oxtoby.
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