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In the early 16th century, the Italian mathematician Scipione del Ferro (1465–1526) found a method for solving a class of cubic equations, namely those of the form x 3 + mx = n. In fact, all cubic equations can be reduced to this form if one allows m and n to be negative, but negative numbers were not known to him at that time. Del Ferro kept ...
The derivative of a cubic function is a quadratic function. A cubic function with real coefficients has either one or three real roots (which may not be distinct); [1] all odd-degree polynomials with real coefficients have at least one real root. The graph of a cubic function always has a single inflection point.
If the rational root test finds no rational solutions, then the only way to express the solutions algebraically uses cube roots. But if the test finds a rational solution r, then factoring out (x – r) leaves a quadratic polynomial whose two roots, found with the quadratic formula, are the remaining two roots of the cubic, avoiding cube roots.
A solution in radicals or algebraic solution is an expression of a solution of a polynomial equation that is algebraic, that is, relies only on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising to integer powers, and extraction of n th roots (square roots, cube roots, etc.). A well-known example is the quadratic formula
Finding roots −1/2, −1/ √ 2, and 1/ √ 2 of the cubic 4x 3 + 2x 2 − 2x − 1, showing how negative coefficients and extended segments are handled. Each number shown on a colored line is the negative of its slope and hence a real root of the polynomial. To employ the method, a diagram is drawn starting at the origin.
Finding the roots (zeros) of a given polynomial has been a prominent mathematical problem.. Solving linear, quadratic, cubic and quartic equations in terms of radicals and elementary arithmetic operations on the coefficients can always be done, no matter whether the roots are rational or irrational, real or complex; there are formulas that yield the required solutions.
If two or more factors of a polynomial are identical, then the polynomial is a multiple of the square of this factor. The multiple factor is also a factor of the polynomial's derivative (with respect to any of the variables, if several). For univariate polynomials, multiple factors are equivalent to multiple roots (over a suitable extension field).
In the case of two nested square roots, the following theorem completely solves the problem of denesting. [2]If a and c are rational numbers and c is not the square of a rational number, there are two rational numbers x and y such that + = if and only if is the square of a rational number d.