Algebra Examples

$3 x^{4} - 9 x^{3} + x^{2} - 3 x$

Step 1

Set $3 x^{4} - 9 x^{3} + x^{2} - 3 x$ equal to $0$ .

$3 x^{4} - 9 x^{3} + x^{2} - 3 x = 0$

Step 2

Solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.1

Factor the left side of the equation.

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Step 2.1.1

Factor $x$ out of $3 x^{4} - 9 x^{3} + x^{2} - 3 x$ .

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Step 2.1.1.1

Factor $x$ out of $3 x^{4}$ .

$x (3 x^{3}) - 9 x^{3} + x^{2} - 3 x = 0$

Step 2.1.1.2

Factor $x$ out of $- 9 x^{3}$ .

$x (3 x^{3}) + x (- 9 x^{2}) + x^{2} - 3 x = 0$

Step 2.1.1.3

Factor $x$ out of $x^{2}$ .

$x (3 x^{3}) + x (- 9 x^{2}) + x \cdot x - 3 x = 0$

Step 2.1.1.4

Factor $x$ out of $- 3 x$ .

$x (3 x^{3}) + x (- 9 x^{2}) + x \cdot x + x \cdot - 3 = 0$

Step 2.1.1.5

Factor $x$ out of $x (3 x^{3}) + x (- 9 x^{2})$ .

$x (3 x^{3} - 9 x^{2}) + x \cdot x + x \cdot - 3 = 0$

Step 2.1.1.6

Factor $x$ out of $x (3 x^{3} - 9 x^{2}) + x \cdot x$ .

$x (3 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} + x) + x \cdot - 3 = 0$

Step 2.1.1.7

Factor $x$ out of $x (3 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} + x) + x \cdot - 3$ .

$x (3 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} + x - 3) = 0$

Step 2.1.2

Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.

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Step 2.1.2.1

Group the first two terms and the last two terms.

$x ((3 x^{3} - 9 x^{2}) + x - 3) = 0$

Step 2.1.2.2

Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.

$x (3 x^{2} (x - 3) + 1 (x - 3)) = 0$

Step 2.1.3

Factor.

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Step 2.1.3.1

Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, $x - 3$ .

$x ((x - 3) (3 x^{2} + 1)) = 0$

Step 2.1.3.2

Remove unnecessary parentheses.

$x (x - 3) (3 x^{2} + 1) = 0$

Step 2.2

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$x = 0$

$x - 3 = 0$

$3 x^{2} + 1 = 0$

Step 2.3

Set $x$ equal to $0$ .

$x = 0$

Step 2.4

Set $x - 3$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.4.1

Set $x - 3$ equal to $0$ .

$x - 3 = 0$

Step 2.4.2

Add $3$ to both sides of the equation.

$x = 3$

Step 2.5

Set $3 x^{2} + 1$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.5.1

Set $3 x^{2} + 1$ equal to $0$ .

$3 x^{2} + 1 = 0$

Step 2.5.2

Solve $3 x^{2} + 1 = 0$ for $x$ .

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Step 2.5.2.1

Subtract $1$ from both sides of the equation.

$3 x^{2} = - 1$

Step 2.5.2.2

Divide each term in $3 x^{2} = - 1$ by $3$ and simplify.

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Step 2.5.2.2.1

Divide each term in $3 x^{2} = - 1$ by $3$ .

$\frac{3 x^{2}}{3} = \frac{- 1}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.2.2

Simplify the left side.

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Step 2.5.2.2.2.1

Cancel the common factor of $3$ .

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Step 2.5.2.2.2.1.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{3 x^{2}}{3} = \frac{- 1}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.2.2.1.2

Divide $x^{2}$ by $1$ .

$x^{2} = \frac{- 1}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.2.3

Simplify the right side.

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Step 2.5.2.2.3.1

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$x^{2} = - \frac{1}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.3

Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.

$x = \pm \sqrt{- \frac{1}{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4

Simplify $\pm \sqrt{- \frac{1}{3}}$ .

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Step 2.5.2.4.1

Rewrite $- \frac{1}{3}$ as $i^{2} \frac{1^{2}}{3}$ .

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Step 2.5.2.4.1.1

Rewrite $- 1$ as $i^{2}$ .

$x = \pm \sqrt{i^{2} \frac{1}{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.1.2

Rewrite $1$ as $1^{2}$ .

$x = \pm \sqrt{i^{2} \frac{1^{2}}{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.2

Pull terms out from under the radical.

$x = \pm i \sqrt{\frac{1^{2}}{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.3

One to any power is one.

$x = \pm i \sqrt{\frac{1}{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.4

Rewrite $\sqrt{\frac{1}{3}}$ as $\frac{\sqrt{1}}{\sqrt{3}}$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{1}}{\sqrt{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.5

Any root of $1$ is $1$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.6

Multiply $\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$ by $\frac{\sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3}}$ .

$x = \pm i (\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} \cdot \frac{\sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3}})$

Step 2.5.2.4.7

Combine and simplify the denominator.

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Step 2.5.2.4.7.1

Multiply $\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$ by $\frac{\sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3}}$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3} \sqrt{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.2

Raise $\sqrt{3}$ to the power of $1$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{{\sqrt{3}}^{1} \sqrt{3}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.3

Raise $\sqrt{3}$ to the power of $1$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{{\sqrt{3}}^{1} {\sqrt{3}}^{1}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.4

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{{\sqrt{3}}^{1 + 1}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.5

Add $1$ and $1$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{{\sqrt{3}}^{2}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.6

Rewrite ${\sqrt{3}}^{2}$ as $3$ .

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Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.1

Use $\sqrt[n]{a^{x}} = a^{\frac{x}{n}}$ to rewrite $\sqrt{3}$ as $3^{\frac{1}{2}}$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{{(3^{\frac{1}{2}})}^{2}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.2

Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, ${(a^{m})}^{n} = a^{m n}$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3^{\frac{1}{2} \cdot 2}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.3

Combine $\frac{1}{2}$ and $2$ .

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3^{\frac{2}{2}}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.4

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

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Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.4.1

Cancel the common factor.

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3^{\frac{2}{2}}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.4.2

Rewrite the expression.

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3^{1}}$

Step 2.5.2.4.7.6.5

Evaluate the exponent.

$x = \pm i \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.4.8

Combine $i$ and $\frac{\sqrt{3}}{3}$ .

$x = \pm \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.5

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

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Step 2.5.2.5.1

First, use the positive value of the $\pm$ to find the first solution.

$x = \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.5.2

Next, use the negative value of the $\pm$ to find the second solution.

$x = - \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}$

Step 2.5.2.5.3

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

$x = \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}, - \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}$

Step 2.6

The final solution is all the values that make $x (x - 3) (3 x^{2} + 1) = 0$ true.

$x = 0, 3, \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}, - \frac{i \sqrt{3}}{3}$

Step 3