Cubic Equations-Their Presence, Importance, and Applications
in the Age of Technology
Robert Kreczner
Department of Mathematics and Computing
University of Wisconsin
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Email: rkreczne@uwsp.edu
Phone: (715) 346-3754
Fax: (715) 346-4260
ABSTRACT
In this article we will attempt, with the help of modern mathematical
technology, to revive an interest and research among teachers and students in cubic and
higher order equations. The article, written in attractive Mathematica's notebook format,
basically comprises two themes: It uses Mathematica 3.0 to discover simple and natural
methods, algebra and calculus based methods, for solving exactly a cubic equation. Once
the idea is discover, then the computation can be easily carried out by a hand, by anyone
with standard algebra or calculus skills. In the second part we will show variety of
different problems whose solution requires solving a non-trivial cubic equation. In that
part we will take advantage of Mathematica to do the computation.
