What are all the roots of the function f(x) = 5x^3 + 5x^2 – 170x + 280 with x = 7 as one of its factors?

To find all the roots of the function f(x) = 5x^3 + 5x^2 – 170x + 280, given that one of its factors is (x – 7), we can use the Remainder Theorem. This theorem states that if a polynomial f(x) is divided by (x – c), the remainder of this division is f(c). Since x = 7 is a root, we know that f(7) = 0.

First, we will perform synthetic division to divide the polynomial by (x – 7).

      7 |  5  5  -170  280  
        |     35   280  
      -------------------  
          5  40  110  0

The result of the division is 5x^2 + 40x + 110. Now, we need to find the roots of this quadratic equation.

We can use the quadratic formula:

x = (-b ± √(b² – 4ac)) / (2a)

For our equation, a = 5, b = 40, and c = 110.

Calculating the discriminant:

b² – 4ac = (40)² – 4(5)(110) = 1600 – 2200 = -600

Since the discriminant is negative, the quadratic has no real roots, but it does have two complex roots.

Calculating the roots using the quadratic formula:

x = (-40 ± √(-600)) / (2 * 5) = (-40 ± 10i√6) / 10 = -4 ± i√6

Therefore, the roots of the function f(x) = 5x^3 + 5x^2 – 170x + 280 are:

  • x = 7
  • x = -4 + i√6
  • x = -4 – i√6

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