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HP Forum Archive 20

Solving a cubic equation using trigonometry
Message #1 Posted by Thomas Klemm on 22 Mar 2011, 4:57 a.m.

A while ago I've posted a program that uses ACOSH to solve a quadratic equation:

Recently I stumbled across a way to solve a cubic equation using trigonometry. Some of you might find that interesting as well.

Cheers
Thomas

## Equations

A general cubic equation can be transformed to the following form using a substitution:

$x^{3}+px+q=0$

The trick is to use the following identity:

$\sin3\theta=3\sin\theta-4\sin^{3}\theta$

Here we set:

$x=\sin\theta$

With the following substitution we can get a closed-form solution:

$3r=p$

$2s=q$

$x=2\sqrt{-r}\sin\frac{1}{3}\sin^{-1}\frac{s}{\sqrt{(-r)^{3}}}$

A similar formula can be found using the following identity:

$\sinh3\alpha=3\sinh\alpha+4\sinh^{3}\alpha$

$x=-2\sqrt{r}\sinh\frac{1}{3}\sinh^{-1}\frac{s}{\sqrt{r^{3}}}$

## Programs

00 { 31-Byte Prgm }           00 { 34-Byte Prgm }
01>LBL "CuEq"                 01>LBL "CuEqH"
02 2                          02 2
03 /                          03 /
04 X<>Y                       04 X<>Y
05 -3                         05 3
06 /                          06 /
07 /                          07 /
08 LASTX                      08 LASTX
09 SQRT                       09 SQRT
10 /                          10 /
11 LASTX                      11 LASTX
12 X<>Y                       12 X<>Y
13 ASIN                       13 ASINH
14 3                          14 3
15 /                          15 /
16 SIN                        16 SINH
17 *                          17 *
18 2                          18 -2
19 *                          19 *
20 END                        20 END

## Examples

x3 + 6x - 2 = 0

CuEq:    3.27480002074E-1 i0
CuEqH:   3.27480002074E-1

x3 + 3x - 4 = 0

CuEq:    1 i0
CuEqH:   1

## References

Edited: 22 Mar 2011, 12:51 p.m. after one or more responses were posted

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #2 Posted by Paul Dale on 22 Mar 2011, 5:23 a.m.,in response to message #1 by Thomas Klemm Thomas, Very nice. Worthy of an article? - Pauli

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #3 Posted by x34 on 22 Mar 2011, 5:36 a.m.,in response to message #1 by Thomas Klemm Doesn't general cubic equation contain a squared element also?

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #4 Posted by Thomas Klemm on 22 Mar 2011, 6:18 a.m.,in response to message #3 by x34 Quote: To solve the general cubic (1), it is reasonable to begin by attempting to eliminate the a2 term by making a substitution of the form . This leads to formulas for p and q based upon ai. Cheers Thomas

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #5 Posted by Frido Bohn on 24 Mar 2011, 3:26 a.m.,in response to message #3 by x34 Quote: Doesn't general cubic equation contain a squared element also? Indeed, the presented formula shows a "depressed cubic".

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #6 Posted by Crawl on 22 Mar 2011, 7:47 a.m.,in response to message #1 by Thomas Klemm By the way, this was the basis for HP15C minichallenge: Impossibly Short

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #7 Posted by Thomas Klemm on 22 Mar 2011, 11:40 a.m.,in response to message #6 by Crawl Thanks for pointing that out. The challenges of this forum are always a marvelous source of inspiration. However here's my source: Mathematical Omnibus: Thirty Lectures on Classic Mathematics Dmitry Fuchs, Serge Tabachnikov Chapter 2. Equations Lecture 4. Equations of Degree Three and Four Though I haven't read the whole book yet I can only recommend it. Best regards Thomas

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #8 Posted by Namir on 22 Mar 2011, 8:56 a.m.,in response to message #1 by Thomas Klemm Last fall I spent much time studying the solution of polynomials, from cubic and up. I spent a lot time looking at the algorithms that solve general cubic polynomials. I used Matlab as the primary tool and then attempted to port solutions to Excel VBA and the HP41C. I came to the conclusion that to solve cubic polynomials you best need a tool that automatically handles complex numbers. Matlab does that well and the graphing HP calculators too (although I only used PROOT to do that and wrote about it in the HP's SOLVE newsletter). The HP-42S is probably useful. J.M. Baillard has developed really cool HP41C programs that solve for the roots of polynomials (with real and complex coefficients. You can find them on this web site's HP41C program library section. Namir

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #9 Posted by Ángel Martin on 22 Mar 2011, 5:02 p.m.,in response to message #8 by Namir Quote: I came to the conclusion that to solve cubic polynomials you best need a tool that automatically handles complex numbers Like the 41Z module perhaps? :-) Well, notwithstanding all the references you mention (well worthy of their effort) the 41Z includes ZPROOT, adapted from Valentin Albillo's original program for the 41. Cheers, 'AM

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #10 Posted by Namir on 23 Mar 2011, 12:04 a.m.,in response to message #9 by Ángel Martin And the 41Z module too!!! :-) Namir

 Re: Solving a cubic equation using trigonometryMessage #11 Posted by Eddie W. Shore on 26 Mar 2011, 5:42 p.m.,in response to message #1 by Thomas Klemm We can combine this with a synthetically dividing the cubic equation by the root and then use the quadratic formula to find the other two roots. Very nice.

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