OFFSET
1,1
COMMENTS
This is the solution to the second of thirty problems posed by Antonio Maria Fiore in the year 1535 to Niccolò Tartaglia. See the Alten et al. reference, p. 272.
See also the Fauvel and Gray reference, p. 254, where the problem is translated as "Find me two numbers in double proportion such that when the square of the larger number is multiplied by the smaller, and this product is added to the two original numbers, the result is forty, that is 40." The explanation given there is equivalent to the equation (2x)^2*x + x + 2x = 40, i.e., 4x^3 + 3x = 40.
REFERENCES
H.-W. Alten et al., 4000 Jahre Algebra, 2. Auflage, Springer, 2014, p. 272.
John Fauvel and Jeremy Gray (eds.), The History of Mathematics: A Reader, Macmillan Press, The Open University, 1988.
LINKS
MacTutor History of Mathematics, Nicolo Tartaglia.
FORMULA
The real solution of the equation 4*x^3 +3*x - 40 = 0 is x1 = (1/2)*((40 + sqrt(1601))^(1/3) - (-40 + sqrt(1601))^(1/3)).
The two complex solutions are a + b*i and a - b*i with a = -x1/2 and b = sqrt(3)*y1/2 where y1 = (1/2)*((40 + sqrt(1601))^(1/3) + (-40 + sqrt(1601))^(1/3)).
EXAMPLE
x1 = 2.0385131981245061768571374235431...
y1 = 2.2705805554808669182617619994067...
MATHEMATICA
RealDigits[N[Solve[4 x^3+3 x-40==0, x][[1, 1, 2]], 111]][[1]]
(* Vincenzo Librandi, May 09 2015 *)
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
AUTHOR
Wolfdieter Lang, May 08 2015
STATUS
approved