Solve for T in Antoine Equation

[Joshuava]

Would someone mind please showing me the steps on how to solve for T? I have tried for a while now and this is becoming really tedious and confusing and I am getting lost in my steps and getting it completely wrong. I gave up on the homework question and requested the solution to see how it was managed however it was worthless because it didn't even tell me how. I have included a picture of the problem. I also was attempting to use goal seek in Excel but it continued to get the wrong answer as well.

 

[gneill]

Hi Joshuava.

Please note that the use of the formatting template for homework help is mandatory. In future please retain and use the template provided in the editing pane when you start a new thread in the homework section of Physics Forums.

The problem asks you to solve numerically for T. That usually means that a symbolic approach is either impossible or too difficult. There are many methods of solving such equations numerically, including Newton's method, or bisection method. Some programming might be required to implement these yourself. Applications like Mathcad or Matlab have built-in numerical solvers.

The first thing to try would be graphing the thing to see where the solution lies. Move the "1" from the right hand side to the left and call the whole thing f(T). Plot it and see where f(T) = 0. This graphical method may be accurate enough for your purposes.

 

[Joshuava]

Well, I apologize for rushing the post and not using the template as I did not know it was required. I must say, this homework problem now has been very unsettling, especially now knowing that I am required to use some sort of technology to solve and I still don't know how to go about using anything to do it. My community college hasn't very well prepared me for the university because they don't even allow you to use calculators with more than 4 functions, while the university I now attend has basically expected me to master how to use EZ solve or some sort of excel spread sheet which I have very little experience. Are there any good places with links that would have a lot of information (like videos to explain this sort of stuff) so that I can catch back up?

 

[gneill]

...the university I now attend has basically expected me to master how to use EZ solve or some sort of excel spread sheet which I have very little experience. Are there any good places with links that would have a lot of information (like videos to explain this sort of stuff) so that I can catch back up?

I don't know of any sites off hand, but you might inquire in some of the technical or other forums such as Academic Guidance, Computing and Technology, or even the General Discussion area (PF Lounge area).