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In mathematics, a quadratic equation is a polynomial equation of the second degree. The general form is + + =, where a ≠ 0. The quadratic equation on a number can be solved using the well-known quadratic formula, which can be derived by completing the square.
In algebra, the partial fraction decomposition or partial fraction expansion of a rational fraction (that is, a fraction such that the numerator and the denominator are both polynomials) is an operation that consists of expressing the fraction as a sum of a polynomial (possibly zero) and one or several fractions with a simpler denominator.
A similar but more complicated method works for cubic equations, which have three resolvents and a quadratic equation (the "resolving polynomial") relating and , which one can solve by the quadratic equation, and similarly for a quartic equation (degree 4), whose resolving polynomial is a cubic, which can in turn be solved. [14]
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).
A continued fraction is an expression of the form = + + + + + where the a n (n > 0) are the partial numerators, the b n are the partial denominators, and the leading term b 0 is called the integer part of the continued fraction.
Rational numbers are algebraic numbers that satisfy a polynomial of degree 1, while quadratic irrationals are algebraic numbers that satisfy a polynomial of degree 2. For both these sets of numbers we have a way to construct a sequence of natural numbers (a n) with the property that each sequence gives a unique real number and such that this real number belongs to the corresponding set if and ...
The discriminant Δ of the cubic is the square of = () (), where a is the leading coefficient of the cubic, and r 1, r 2 and r 3 are the three roots of the cubic. As Δ {\displaystyle {\sqrt {\Delta }}} changes of sign if two roots are exchanged, Δ {\displaystyle {\sqrt {\Delta }}} is fixed by the Galois group only if the Galois group is A 3 .
In integral calculus we would want to write a fractional algebraic expression as the sum of its partial fractions in order to take the integral of each simple fraction separately. Once the original denominator, D 0, has been factored we set up a fraction for each factor in the denominator.