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This can be proved as follows. First, if r is a root of a polynomial with real coefficients, then its complex conjugate is also a root. So the non-real roots, if any, occur as pairs of complex conjugate roots. As a cubic polynomial has three roots (not necessarily distinct) by the fundamental theorem of algebra, at least one root must be real.
The roots, stationary points, inflection point and concavity of a cubic polynomial x 3 − 6x 2 + 9x − 4 (solid black curve) and its first (dashed red) and second (dotted orange) derivatives. The critical points of a cubic function are its stationary points, that is the points where the slope of the function is zero. [2]
The following names are assigned to polynomials according to their degree: [2] [3] [4] Special case – zero (see § Degree of the zero polynomial, below) Degree 0 – non-zero constant [5] Degree 1 – linear; Degree 2 – quadratic; Degree 3 – cubic; Degree 4 – quartic (or, if all terms have even degree, biquadratic) Degree 5 – quintic
If the original polynomial is the product of factors at least two of which are of degree 2 or higher, this technique only provides a partial factorization; otherwise the factorization is complete. In particular, if there is exactly one non-linear factor, it will be the polynomial left after all linear factors have been factorized out.
Since every polynomial with complex coefficients can be factored into 1st-degree factors (that is one way of stating the fundamental theorem of algebra), it follows that every polynomial with real coefficients can be factored into factors of degree no higher than 2: just 1st-degree and quadratic factors.
Vieta's formulas are frequently used with polynomials with coefficients in any integral domain R.Then, the quotients / belong to the field of fractions of R (and possibly are in R itself if happens to be invertible in R) and the roots are taken in an algebraically closed extension.
The positive integer n is called the index or degree, and the number x of which the root is taken is the radicand. A root of degree 2 is called a square root and a root of degree 3, a cube root. Roots of higher degree are referred by using ordinal numbers, as in fourth root, twentieth root, etc. The computation of an n th root is a root extraction.
The approximate equality in the rule becomes exact if f is a polynomial up to and including 3rd degree. If the 1/3 rule is applied to n equal subdivisions of the integration range [a, b], one obtains the composite Simpson's 1/3 rule. Points inside the integration range are given alternating weights 4/3 and 2/3.