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Glossary |
We have seen how the quadratic formula works to factor 2nd degree polynomials. We have also seen there is a formula which will allow us to find roots/factors of 3rd degree polynomials. There is an even more complicated one, discovered by Ferrari in 1540, that works for 4th degree polynomials. But mathematicians struggled vainly to try and find a similar formula for 5th degree polynomials, until 1824, when Abel finally showed that no such formula exists! Computationally, the best we can hope for is to use advanced functions and techniques from Calculus, to obtain successively better approximations to the factors/roots of a general real polynomial. In general, these are quite difficult and must be programmed for a computer to calculate.
Go back to Polynomial Division and Factoring
| Table of Contents | Send questions or
comments to jwicks@northpark.edu |
Glossary |