Solving Polynomials
It was once believed that all roots of polynomials could be expressed in terms of radicals and elementary operations; however, while this is true for third degree polynomials (cubics) and fourth degree polynomials (quartics), the Abel-Ruffini theorem (1824) shows that this is not true in general when the degree is 5 or greater. For example, the solutions of the equation
cannot be expressed in terms of radicals. (cf. quintic equation)
For solving any equation of the nth degree numerically, to obtain a result that is arbitrarily close to being exact, see Root-finding algorithm.
Read more about this topic: nth Root
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“Science is a dynamic undertaking directed to lowering the degree of the empiricism involved in solving problems; or, if you prefer, science is a process of fabricating a web of interconnected concepts and conceptual schemes arising from experiments and observations and fruitful of further experiments and observations.”
—James Conant (1893–1978)