Space Shuttle - 3 (Program "shutfor")

In the previous exercise we managed to effectively perform the integration of the velocity function in the while loop structure to obtain the cumulative height attained by the shuttle booster rockets. Unfortunately we find that the accuracy of our results depends upon the number of points chosen to evaluate. Consider the following extracts from two typical executions of program shutloop, in which we evaluate the height attained after an elapsed time of 120 seconds after lift-off:

Evaluate upward velocity as function of elapsed time
 for 20,000kg payload, initial total mass is 2,034,681[kg]
 enter your initial total mass of shuttle [kg]: 
2034681
value entered is 2034681.0[kg]
Shuttle initialised as follows:
 total mass at liftoff: 2034681.0[kg]
 mass of solid fuel at liftoff: 1004250.0[kg]
 booster ejection fuel velocity: 2817.0[m/s],
       mass flow rate: 8369.0[kg/s]
 orbiter ejection fuel velocity: 3636.0[m/s],
       mass flow rate: 1378.0[kg/s]
 initial gravity acceleration: 9.8[m/s^2]
enter elapsed time from liftoff [s]: 120
value entered is 120.0 seconds
enter the number of points to evaluate
2
number of points is 2
elapsed time(s) velocity(m/s)  height(m)
       0.0           0.0           0.0
     120.0        1047.9       62875.9 
 
       | 
       |
       |
enter elapsed time from liftoff [s]: 120
value entered is 120.0 seconds
enter the number of points to evaluate
21
number of points is 21
elapsed time(s) velocity(m/s)  height(m)
       0.0           0.0           0.0
       6.0          26.4          79.1
      12.0          54.6         321.9
      18.0          84.8         739.9
       |
       |
       |
     108.0         871.7       38213.6
     114.0         956.8       43699.0
     120.0        1047.9       49713.1

Which is the correct value of height at an elapsed time of 120 s? Is it 62875.9 m? 49713.1 m? Either of them? Clearly we need to evaluate the height independently of the number of points chosen to evaluate.

In this exercise you should extend the class Shuttle of the previous two exercises to include a new method find_height as indicated in the following structure diagram:

Thus the purpose of method find_height is to integrate the velocity function by means of the Trapezoidal method in order to evaluate the height attained by the booster rockets after an elapsed time etime, as indicated in the following diagram:

In order to develop the function you will need to decide on the number of integration intervals 'n'. At this stage we have no theoretical means of relating the required accuracy and the number of intervals. One practical means is to choose a value for n (say 2) and note the resulting value of height. Double this value and repeat the process, then keep doubling n until the change in the height is within a specified error bound. It is convenient to use the previous program exercise shutloop for this purpose.
Notice that once we have chosen a value for n then the summation loop sums the n trapezoidal areas. In our previous exercise we used the while loop structure to do the summation, however in situations in which we know exactly how many times to execute the loop, the for loop structure is clearer to read. In this exercise the for loop structure should be used.
Finally, professional C++ programs are always separated into at least two files: the program file (often referred to as the dot-cpp file) and the header file (or dot-h file). In this exercise you will be required to separate your program into a program file shutfor.cpp and a header file shutfor.h. A direct example is available on condor in the /home/condor/et181/chapter4 directory and can been used as a paradigm for thus exercise. Recall the program gfun.cpp to evaluate the local value of acceleration due to gravity. This program has been rewritten in terms of gfun1.cpp and gfun1.h and can also be found in the chapter4 directory.

Extracts of typical execution output for the new program shutfor follow:

Evaluate upward velocity as function of elapsed time
 for 20,000kg payload, initial total mass is 2,034,681[kg]
 enter your initial total mass of shuttle [kg]: 
2034681
value entered is 2034681.0[kg]
Shuttle initialised as follows:
 total mass at liftoff: 2034681.0[kg]
 mass of solid fuel at liftoff: 1004250.0[kg]
 booster ejection fuel velocity: 2817.0[m/s],
       mass flow rate: 8369.0[kg/s]
 orbiter ejection fuel velocity: 3636.0[m/s],
       mass flow rate: 1378.0[kg/s]
 initial gravity acceleration: 9.8[m/s^2]
enter elapsed time from liftoff [s]: 120
value entered is 120.0 seconds
enter the number of points to evaluate
2
number of points is 2
elapsed time(s) velocity(m/s)  height(m)
       0.0            0.0            0.0
     120.0         1047.9        49680.2 
 
       | 
       |
       |
enter elapsed time from liftoff [s]: 120
value entered is 120.0 seconds
enter the number of points to evaluate
21
number of points is 21
elapsed time(s) velocity(m/s)  height(m)
       0.0            0.0            0.0
       6.0           26.4           78.3
      12.0           54.7          320.5
      18.0           84.9          738.1
		|
		|
		|
     108.0          872.5        38227.0
     114.0          957.6        43714.3
     120.0         1047.9        49680.2 

Notice that the height evaluated at an elapsed time of 120 seconds is independent of the number of points to evaluate. Apart from that there is no discernable difference in the output.

Both the program file shutfor.cpp and the header file shutfor.h should be located in your home directory by 10:00 a.m. of the due date.

Telnet: "condor"