Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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
Polynomials of degree one, two or three are respectively linear polynomials, quadratic polynomials and cubic polynomials. [8] For higher degrees, the specific names are not commonly used, although quartic polynomial (for degree four) and quintic polynomial (for degree five) are sometimes used. The names for the degrees may be applied to the ...
In mathematics and computer science, Horner's method (or Horner's scheme) is an algorithm for polynomial evaluation.Although named after William George Horner, this method is much older, as it has been attributed to Joseph-Louis Lagrange by Horner himself, and can be traced back many hundreds of years to Chinese and Persian mathematicians. [1]
The result R = 0 occurs if and only if the polynomial A has B as a factor. Thus long division is a means for testing whether one polynomial has another as a factor, and, if it does, for factoring it out. For example, if a root r of A is known, it can be factored out by dividing A by (x – r).
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.
Cubic equations, which are polynomial equations of the third degree (meaning the highest power of the unknown is 3) can always be solved for their three solutions in terms of cube roots and square roots (although simpler expressions only in terms of square roots exist for all three solutions, if at least one of them is a rational number).