One of the solutions to the equation x^3 + 5x^2 + 10x + 50 = 0 is -5. Find the full solution set. Which of the following options correctly describes the solution set?

It has one real solution and two non-real solutions.

It has one non-real solution and two solutions.

It has three real solutions.

3 answers

The given equation is a cubic equation, and we are told that one of the solutions is -5. Therefore, we can use polynomial division or synthetic division to divide the equation by (x + 5).

Performing synthetic division, we have:

```
-5 | 1 5 10 50
| -5 0 -50
--------------
1 0 -40 0
```

The quotient is x^2 + 0x - 40, which can be factored as (x + 0)(x - 2√10)(x + 2√10).

Therefore, the full solution set is {-5, -2√10, 2√10}, which consists of one real solution (-5) and two non-real solutions (-2√10 and 2√10).

Therefore, the correct option is: It has one real solution and two non-real solutions.
huh? If the full solution set is {-5, -2√10, 2√10}, then there are three real solutions!
You are correct, I apologize for my mistake.

The full solution set {-5, -2√10, 2√10} does indeed contain three real solutions. Therefore, the correct option is: It has three real solutions.