Getting a cubic equation from 3 equations

61 Views Asked by At

Here is the problem:

Three numbers have a sum of $5$ and the sum of their squares is $29$. If the product of the three numbers is $−10$, what are the three numbers? Express your answer in simplest radical form.

I used Vieta's formulas to get $x^3-5x^2+12x+10=0$

What should I do after this?

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

As @WhatsUp noted in the comments, the equation should have been $x^3-5x^2-2x+10=0$, and so you can find by inspection or by the Rational Root Theorem that $x=5$ is a root. Divide and get $x^2-2=0$, and so your answers should be $x=5, \sqrt{2}, -\sqrt{2}$.

Edit: Another (essentially equivalent, but more detailed) method to get the coefficient of $-2$ for the linear term:

Assume the roots are $a, b, c$.

Square the first equation: $(a+b+c=5)^2\Rightarrow (a^2+b^2+c^2+2(ab+ac+bc))=25$

We know that $a^2+b^2+c^2=29$ by the second equation, and so we get $2(ab+ac+bc)=-4\Rightarrow ab+ac+bc=-2$