Thread: Solving cubic equations with unknowns

Hi,

As a small part of my Folio task I have to solve the following equation in terms of x, where a is a constant:

(x)^3 -2a(x)^2 +a^3 = 0

I'm just having quite a bit of trouble getting all of the x terms over to one side. This is just a small algebra thing that's gotten me stumped in a calculus paper.

The x terms ARE all on one side...

The left hand side factorises to (x-a)(x^2-ax-a^2)

Thank you so much biffboy!

Originally Posted by lilac776

(x)^3 -2a(x)^2 +a^3 = 0

With a cubic of that style (1st and last terms are cubes),
long division by (x + a) always a good idea...