How to find the zeros of this polynomial?

#f(x)=x^3-13x^2+17x+10#

1 Answer
Feb 28, 2018

#-0.43717, +2, " and "+11.43717 " are the three zeros."#

Explanation:

#"First apply the rational roots theorem in search for rational"#
#"roots. Here we can only have divisors of 10 as rational roots :"#

#pm 1, pm 2, pm 5, " or "pm 10#

#"So there are only 8 possibilities to check."#
#"We see that 2 is the root we search for."#
#"If 2 is a root, (x-2) is a factor and we divide it away :"#

#x^3 - 13 x^2 + 17 x + 10 = (x-2)(x^2-11 x-5)#

#"So the remaining two zeros are the zeros of the remaining"#
#"quadratic equation :"#

#x^2 - 11 x - 5 = 0#

#"disc : "11^2 + 4*5 = 141#
#x = (11 pm sqrt(141))/2#
#= -0.43717 " or "11.43717#

#"So we have 3 real roots or zeros and they are : "#

#-0.43717, 2, " and "11.43717#