Runge-Kutta 4th Order Method:

Example
A ball at 1200K is allowed to cool down in air at an ambient temperature
of 300K. Assuming heat is lost only due to radiation, the differential
equation for the temperature of the ball is given by
d
= 2.2067 10 12 4 81108
dt

Find the temperature at

, ( 0 ) = 1200 K

t = 480 seconds using Runge-Kutta 4th order method.

Assume a step size of h = 240

seconds.

d
= 2.2067 10 12 4 81 10 8
dt

f ( t , ) = 2.2067 10 12 4 81 10 8

i +1 = i +
1

1
( k1 + 2k 2 + 2k 3 + k 4 ) h
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Solution
Step 1:

i = 0 , t0 = 0 , 0 = (0) = 1200

k1 = f ( t0 , o ) = f ( 0 , 1200 ) = 2.2067 10 12 1200 4 81108 = 4.5579

1
1
1
1

k 2 = f t0 + h , 0 + k1h = f 0 + ( 240 ) , 1200 + ( 4.5579) 240

2
2
2
2

= f (120 , 653.05) = 2.2067 10 12 653.054 81108 = 0.38347

1
1
1
1

k3 = f t0 + h , 0 + k 2 h = f 0 + ( 240 ) , 1200 + ( 0.38347 ) 240

2
2
2
2

= f (120 , 1154.0 ) = 2.2067 10 12 (1154.0 4 81108 ) = 3.8954

k 4 = f ( t0 + h , 0 + k3h ) = f ( 0 + ( 240 ) , 1200 + ( 3.984) 240 )

= f ( 240 , 265.10 ) = 2.2067 10 12 265.10 4 81 108 = 0.0069750

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Solution Cont
1
( k1 + 2k2 + 2k3 + k4 ) h
6
1
= 1200 + ( 4.5579 + 2( 0.38347 ) + 2( 3.8954 ) + ( 0.069750) ) 240
6
1
= 1200 + ( 2.1848) 240
6
= 675.65 K

1 = 0 +

1 is the approximate temperature at

t = t1 = t0 + h = 0 + 240 = 240

( 240 ) 1 = 675.65K
3

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Solution Cont
Step 2:

i = 1, t1 = 240,1 = 675.65 K

k1 = f ( t1 , 1 ) = f ( 240, 675.65) = 2.2067 10 12 675.654 81 108 = 0.44199

1
1
1
1

k 2 = f t1 + h, 1 + k1h = f 240 + ( 240) , 675.65 + ( 0.44199 ) 240

2
2
2
2

= f ( 360,622.61) = 2.2067 10 12 622.614 81108 = 0.31372

1
1
1
1

k3 = f t1 + h, 1 + k 2 h = f 240 + ( 240) , 675.65 + ( 0.31372 ) 240

2
2
2
2

= f ( 360, 638.00 ) = 2.2067 10 12 ( 638.00 4 81108 ) = 0.34775

k 4 = f ( t1 + h, 1 + k3 h ) = f ( 240 + ( 240) , 675.65 + ( 0.34775) 240)

= f ( 480,592.19 ) = 2.2067 10 12 ( 592.19 4 81108 ) = 0.25351

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Solution Cont
1
( k1 + 2k2 + 2k3 + k4 ) h
6
1
= 675.65 + ( 0.44199 + 2( 0.31372) + 2( 0.34775) + ( 0.25351) ) 240
6
1
= 675.65 + ( 2.0184 ) 240
6
= 594.91K

2 = 1 +

2 is the approximate temperature at

t 2 = t1 + h = 240 + 240 = 480

( 480) 2 = 594.91K

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Solution Cont
The exact solution of the ordinary differential equation is given by
the solution of a non-linear equation as

0.92593 ln

300
1.8519 tan 1 ( 0.00333) = 0.22067 10 3 t 2.9282
+ 300

The solution to this nonlinear equation at t=480 seconds is

(480) = 647.57 K

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Comparison with exact

results
Temperature,
(K)

1600
1200
h=120

800

Exact
h=240

400
h=480

0
0

200

400

600

-400
Time,t(sec)

Figure 1. Comparison of Runge-Kutta 4th order method with exact solution

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Effect of step size

Table 1. Temperature at 480 seconds as a function of step size, h

Step size,
h

480
240
120
60
30

(480)

|t|%

90.278
737.85
113.94
594.91
52.660
8.1319
646.16
1.4122
0.21807
647.54
0.033626
0.0051926
647.57 0.00086900 0.00013419
(480) = 647.57 K

Et

(exact)
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Effects of step size on RungeKutta 4th Order Method

Temperature,(480)

800
600
400
200
0
0

100

200

300

400

500

-200
Step size, h

Figure 2. Effect of step size in Runge-Kutta 4th order method

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Comparison of Euler and

Runge-Kutta Methods
Temperature, (K)

1400
1200

4th order

1000
800

Exact

600

Heun

400

Euler

200
0

100

200

300

400

500

Time, t(sec)

Figure 3. Comparison of Runge-Kutta methods of 1st, 2nd, and 4th order.

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