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Paulo Serrano
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Homework Statement
- A third degree polynomial has 3 roots that, when arranged in ascending order, form an arithmetic progression in which the sum of the 3 roots equal 9/5.
- The difference between the square of the greatest root and the smallest root is 24/5
- Given that the coefficient of the highest degree term is 5, determine:
a) the arithmetic progression
b) the coefficient of the first degree term of the polynomial
(I hope I translated this right)
Homework Equations
None that I can think of.
The Attempt at a Solution
Using the first 2 pieces of given information I constructed the following:
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4939/systemofequations.jpg
With just the first equation I was able to determine that x=3/5 (since the r's cancel themselves out)
After that, I'm completely lost. I don't know how to find the value of r. I can tell you guys right now that it's supposed to equal r=2, but I don't know how or why. If I substitute the value of x into the second equation they cancel themselves out anyway and I get a different answer for r.
I also don't know what to do after I've found the value of r.
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