Mastering Polynomial Equations: Comparing Coefficients Explained

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thepatientmental
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Hi, this is my first post.

Right now I am in grade 12 advanced functions and introductory calc.

I have just started the second unit which is polynomial equations and inequalities.

I am currently having a problem with comparing coefficients.
I understand up until where you find the factor of the cubic equation, and distrubute it over the part polynomial which is (x^2 + kn + (p times the coefficiant of the original polynomial)

I get confused when I solve for both x's. I always turn out to have different numbers, and I don't know what to plug in for k.

Help is urgent please.

thanks to all
 
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I am sorry, it simply is not clear what you are looking for.

Could you post your problem clearly and in its entirety. Then show us some of your work, not the result of your work but the processes you employed to arrive at the result. This will allow us to get to the root of the problem much quicker.
 
Thanks for trying to help, sorry I didn't reply sooner.
I figured it out today. I thought it was an accual term used for one of the (basic high-school) methods of factoring cubic(or higher) equations into smaller ones.
(I didn't have trouble with a particular equation, but of the process of all equations in that manner.)

Thanks again.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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