Thread: difference between recursive and iterative

I conceptually understand what is the difference between recursive and iterative implementation of some problem. Iterative uses loops, and recursive uses recursive function calls. But I found terms recursive formula and iterative formula.
For example formula for Newton_Raphson method for solving equation f(x)=0 is

x(n+1)=x(n)+f(x(n))/f'(x(n))

Is this recursive or iterative formula. What is the difference?
I read somewhere that recursive formulaes are best to implement by recursion in C and iterative formulaes are best to implement iterative using loops.
How can I recognize iterative from recursive formulae.
Thanks