The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
A cubic equation is one of the form ax 3+bx 2+cx+d = 0 where a,b,c and d are real numbers. For example, x 3-2x 2-5x+6 = 0 and x 3-3x 2+4x-2 = 0 are cubic equations. The first one has the real solutions, or roots, -2, 1, and 3, and the second one has the real root 1 and the complex roots 1+i and 1-i.
Every cubic equation has either three real roots as in our first example or one real root and a pair of (conjugate) complex roots as in our second example.
There is a formula for finding the roots of a cubic equation that is similar to the one for the quadratic equation but much more complicated. It was first used by Geronimo Cardano in 1545, even though he had obtained the formula from Niccolo Tartaglia under the promise of secrecy.