If a and k are real, for what values of k does z3+az2+kz+ka=0 have: a) one real root b) 3 real roots?

1 Answer
Apr 4, 2017

See below.

Explanation:

p(z)=z3+az2+kz+ka=z2(z+a)+k(z+a)=(z2+k)(z+a)=0

so as we can observe, z3+az2+kz+ka=0

always has a real root which is z=a

and if k<0 then p(z)=0 will have three real roots which are

z=k,z=k,z=a