Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Solution of Cubic Equations: After Reading This Chapter, You Should Be Able To
Solution of Cubic Equations: After Reading This Chapter, You Should Be Able To
02
Solution of Cubic Equations
03.02.1
03.02.2 Chapter 03.02
1⎛ 2b 3 bc ⎞
f = ⎜⎜ d + 2
− ⎟⎟
a⎝ 27a 3a ⎠
Now, reduce the above equation using Vieta’s substitution
s
y= z+ (6)
z
For the time being, the constant s is undefined. Substituting into the depressed cubic
Equation (5), we get
3
⎛ s⎞ ⎛ s⎞
⎜ z + ⎟ + e⎜ z + ⎟ + f = 0 (7)
⎝ z⎠ ⎝ z⎠
Expanding out and multiplying both sides by z 3 , we get
z 6 + (3s + e )z 4 + fz 3 + s(3s + e )z 2 + s 3 = 0 (8)
e
Now, let s = − ( s is no longer undefined) to simplify the equation into a tri-quadratic
3
equation.
e3
z 6 + fz 3 − =0 (9)
27
By making one more substitution, w = z 3 , we now have a general quadratic equation which
can be solved using the quadratic formula.
e3
w 2 + fw − =0 (10)
27
Once you obtain the solution to this quadratic equation, back substitute using the previous
substitutions to obtain the roots to the general cubic equation.
w→ z→ y→ x
where we assumed
w = z3 (11)
s
y= z+
z
e
s=− (12)
3
b
x= y−
3a
Note: You will get two roots for w as Equation (10) is a quadratic equation. Using
Equation (11) would then give you three roots for each of the two roots of w , hence giving
you six root values for z . But the six root values of z would give you six values of y
( Equation (6) ); but three values of y will be identical to the other three. So one gets only
three values of y , and hence three values of x . (Equation (2))
Example 1
Find the roots of the following cubic equation.
x 3 − 9 x 2 + 36 x − 80 = 0
Solution of Cubic Equations 03.02.3
Solution
For the general form given by Equation (1)
ax3 + bx 2 + cx + d = 0
we have
a = 1 , b = −9 , c = 36 , d = −80
in
x 3 − 9 x 2 + 36 x − 80 = 0 (E1-1)
Equation (E1-1) is reduced to
y 3 + ey + f = 0
where
1⎛ b2 ⎞
e = ⎜⎜ c − ⎟⎟
a⎝ 3a ⎠
1⎛
= ⎜⎜ 36 −
(− 9)2 ⎞
⎟
1⎝ 3(1) ⎟
⎠
=9
and
1⎛ 2b 3 bc ⎞
f = ⎜⎜ d + 2
− ⎟⎟
a⎝ 27a 3a ⎠
1⎛ 2(− 9 ) (− 9 )(36 ) ⎞
3
⎜
= ⎜ − 80 + − ⎟
1⎝ 27(1)
2
3(1) ⎟⎠
= −26
giving
y 3 + 9 y − 26 = 0 (E1-2)
For the general form given by Equation (5)
y 3 + ey + f = 0
we have
e = 9 , f = −26
in Equation (E1-2).
From Equation (12)
e
s=−
3
9
=−
3
= −3
From Equation (10)
e3
w 2 + fw − =0
27
93
w − 26 w −
2
=0
27
w 2 − 26w − 27 = 0
03.02.4 Chapter 03.02
where
w = z3
and
s
y= z+
z
3
= z−
z
− (− 26) ± (− 26)2 − 4(1)(− 27 )
w=
2(1)
= 27,−1
The solution is
w1 = 27
w2 = −1
Since
w = z3
z3 = w
For w = w1
z 3 = w1
= 27
= 27e i 0
Since
w = z3
(
re iθ = ue iα )
3
= u 3 e 3iα
r (cosθ + i sin θ ) = u 3 (cos 3α + i sin 3α )
resulting in
r = u3
cos θ = cos 3α
sin θ = sin 3α
Since sin θ and cos θ are periodic of 2π ,
3α = θ + 2πk
θ + 2πk
α=
3
k will take the value of 0, 1 and 2 before repeating the same values of α .
So,
θ + 2πk
α= , k = 0, 1, 2
3
θ
α1 =
3
α2 =
(θ + 2π )
3
Solution of Cubic Equations 03.02.5
α3 =
(θ + 4π )
3
So roots of w = z 3 are
θ θ⎞
1
⎛
z1 = r ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
3
⎝ 3 3⎠
θ + 2π θ + 2π ⎞
1
⎛
z 2 = r 3 ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
θ + 4π θ + 4π ⎞
1
⎛
z 3 = r 3 ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
gives
1/ 3 ⎛ 0⎞
z1 = (27 ) ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
0
⎝ 3 3⎠
=3
1/ 3 ⎛ 0 + 2π 0 + 2π ⎞
z 2 = (27 ) ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
⎛ 2π 2π ⎞
= 3⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
⎛ 1 3⎞
= 3⎜⎜ − + i ⎟
⎟
⎝ 2 2 ⎠
3 3 3
= − +i
2 2
1/ 3 ⎛ 0 + 4π 0 + 4π ⎞
z 3 = (27 ) ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
⎛ 4π 4π ⎞
= 3⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
⎛ 1 3⎞
= 3⎜⎜ − − i ⎟
⎟
⎝ 2 2 ⎠
3 3 3
= − −i
2 2
Since
3
y=z−
z
3
y1 = z1 −
z1
3
= 3−
3
=2
03.02.6 Chapter 03.02
3
y2 = z2 −
z2
⎛ 3 3 3⎞ 3
= ⎜⎜ − + i ⎟−
⎟
⎝ 2 2 ⎠ ⎛ 3 3 3⎞
⎜− + i ⎟
⎜ 2 2 ⎟
⎝ ⎠
5 + 3i 3
=−
−1 + i 3
5 + 3i 3 − 1 − i 3
=− ×
−1+ i 3 −1− i 3
= −1 + i 2 3
3
y3 = z3 −
z3
⎛ 3 3 3⎞ 3
= ⎜⎜ − − i ⎟−
⎟
⎝ 2 2 ⎠ ⎛ 3 3 3⎞
⎜− − i ⎟
⎜ 2 2 ⎟
⎝ ⎠
5 − i3 3
=
1+ i 3
5 − i3 3 1 − i 3
= ×
1+ i 3 1− i 3
= −1 − i 2 3
Since
x = y+3
x1 = y1 + 3
= 2+3
=5
x2 = y 2 + 3
(
= − 1 + i2 3 + 3 )
= 2 + i2 3
x3 = y 3 + 3
(
= − 1 − i2 3 + 3 )
= 2 − i2 3
(x − 5)(x − (2 + i 2 ))( (
3 x − 2 − i2 3 = 0 ))
gives
x 3 − 9 x 2 + 36 x − 80 = 0
Using
w2 = −1
would yield the same values of the three roots of the equation. Try it.
Example 2
Find the roots of the following cubic equation
x 3 − 0.03x 2 + 2.4 × 10 −6 = 0
Solution
For the general form
ax 3 + bx 2 + cx + d = 0
a = 1, b = −0.03, c = 0, d = 2.4 × 10−6
Depress the cubic equation by letting (Equation (2))
b
x= y−
3a
= y−
(− 0.03)
3(1)
= y + 0.01
Substituting the above equation into the cubic equation and simplifying, we get
( ) (
y 3 − 3 × 10 −4 y + 4 × 10 −7 = 0 )
That gives e = −3 × 10 −4 and f = 4 ×10−7 for Equation (5), that is, y 3 + ey + f = 0 .
Now, solve the depressed cubic equation by using Vieta’s substitution as
s
y= z+
z
to obtain
( ) ( ) ( )
z 6 + 3s − 3 × 10 −4 z 4 + 4 × 10 −7 z 3 + s 3s − 3 × 10 −4 z 2 + s 3 = 0
Letting
e − 3 × 10 −4
s=− =− = 10 − 4
3 3
we get the following tri-quadratic equation
( )
z 6 + 4 ×10 −7 z 3 + 1×10 −12 = 0
Using the following conversion, w = z 3 , we get a general quadratic equation
( ) (
w 2 + 4 × 10 −7 w + 1× 10 −12 = 0 )
Using the quadratic equation, the solutions for w are
w=
− 4 × 10 −7 ± (4 × 10 ) −7 2
(
− 4(1) 1 × 10 −12 )
2(1)
giving
03.02.8 Chapter 03.02
(
w1 = −2 × 10 −7 + i 9.79795897113 × 10 −7 )
w2 = −2 × 10 −7
− i (9.79795897113 × 10 )
−7
Each solution of w = z 3 yields three values of z . The three values of z from w1 are in
rectangular form.
Since
w = z3
Then
1
z=w 3
Let
w = r (cosθ + i sin θ ) = re iθ
then
z = u (cos α + i sin α ) = ue iα
This gives
w = z3
(
re iθ = ue iα )
3
= u 3 e 3iα
r (cosθ + i sin θ ) = u 3 (cos 3α + i sin 3α )
resulting in
r = u3
cos θ = cos 3α
sin θ = sin 3α
Since sin θ and cos θ are periodic of 2π ,
3α = θ + 2πk
θ + 2πk
α=
3
k will take the value of 0, 1 and 2 before repeating the same values of α .
So,
θ + 2πk
α= , k = 0, 1, 2
3
θ
α1 =
3
α2 =
(θ + 2π )
3
α3 =
(θ + 4π )
3
So the roots of w = z 3 are
θ θ⎞
1
⎛
z1 = r 3 ⎜ cos + i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3⎠
θ + 2π θ + 2π ⎞
1
⎛
z 2 = r ⎜ cos
3
+ i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
Solution of Cubic Equations 03.02.9
θ + 4π θ + 4π ⎞
1
⎛
z 3 = r ⎜ cos
3
+ i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
So for
(
w1 = −2 × 10 −7 + i 9.79795897113 × 10 −7 )
r= (− 2 × 10 ) + (9.79795897113 × 10 )
−7 2 −7 2
= 1 × 10 −6
9.7979589711 3 × 10 −7
θ = tan −1
− 2 × 10 −7
= 1.772154248 (2nd quadrant because y (the numerator) is positive and x (the
denominator) is negative)
z1 = (1 × 10 −6 )3 ⎜ cos
1
⎛ 1.772154248 1.772154248 ⎞
+ i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
= 0.008305409517 + i 0.005569575635
1.772154248 + 2π 1.772154248 + 2π ⎞
z 2 = (1 × 10 −6 )3 ⎜ cos
1
⎛
+ i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
= −0.0089760987 46 + i 0.0044079078 15
1.772154248 + 4π 1.772154248 + 4π ⎞
z 3 = (1 × 10 −6 )3 ⎜ cos
1
⎛
+ i sin ⎟
⎝ 3 3 ⎠
= 0.0006706892313 − i 0.009977483448
Compiling
z1 = 0.008305409518 + i0.005569575634
z 2 = −0.008976098746 + i0.004407907814
z 3 = 6.7068922852 5 × 10 −4 − i 0.0099774834 48
Similarly, the three values of z from w2 in rectangular form are
z 4 = 0.008305409518 − i 0.005569575634
z 5 = −0.008976098746 − i 0.004407907814
z 6 = 6.7068922852 5 × 10 −4 + i 0.0099774834 48
Using Vieta’s substitution (Equation (6)),
s
y= z+
z
y = z+
(
1× 10 −4 )
z
we back substitute to find three values for y .
For example, choosing
z1 = 0.008305409518 + i0.005569575634
gives
1 × 10 −4
y1 = 0.0083054095 18 + i 0.0055695756 34 +
0.0083054095 18 + i 0.0055695756 34
03.02.10 Chapter 03.02
= 0.008305409518 + i 0.005569575634
1 × 10 − 4 0.008305409518 − i 0.00556957634
+ ×
0.008305409078 + i 0.00556957634 0.008305409518 − i 0.00556957634
= 0.008305409518 + i 0.005569575634
1 × 10 − 4
+ (0.008305409518 − i0.00556957634)
1 × 10 − 4
= 0.0166108190 36
The values of z1 , z 2 and z 3 give
y1 = 0.016610819036
y 2 = −0.01795219749
y3 = 0.001341378457
respectively. The three other z values of z 4 , z 5 and z 6 give the same values as y1 , y 2 and
y3 , respectively.
Now, using the substitution of
x = y + 0.01
the three roots of the given cubic equation are
x1 = 0.016610819036 + 0.01
= 0.026610819036
x 2 = −0.01795219749 + 0.01
= −0.00795219749
x3 = 0.001341378457 + 0.01
= 0.0113413784 57
NONLINEAR EQUATIONS
Topic Exact Solution to Cubic Equations
Summary Textbook notes on finding the exact solution to a cubic
equation.
Major General Engineering
Authors Autar Kaw
Last Revised July 3, 2009
Web Site http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu