College Algebra (10th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321979478
ISBN 13: 978-0-32197-947-6

Chapter 5 - Section 5.4 - Polynomial and Rational Inequalities - 5.4 Assess Your Understanding - Page 373: 28

Answer

The inequality is valid for values between -3 and 0, and values more than 1 (not including them) i.e. $(-3,0)\cap (1,\infty)$

Work Step by Step

First, we are going to find the x-intercepts by equating to zero: $x^3+2x^2-3x=0$ $x(x^2+2x-3)=0$ $x(x-1)(x+3)=0$ $x_1=-3$ $x_2=0$ $x_3=1$ These are the critical points. We are going to take four values: one less than -3; one between -3 and 0; one between 0 and 1; and one more than 1 to test in the original equation and check if the inequality is true or not: First test with a value less than -3: $(-4)^3+2(-4)^2-3(-4)\gt0$ $-64+32+12>0$ $-20>0 \rightarrow \text{ FALSE}$ Second test with a value between -3 and 0: $(-0.5)^3+2(-0.5)^2-3(-0.5)\gt0$ $-0.125+0.5+1.5>0$ $1.875> \rightarrow \text{ TRUE}$ Third test with a value between 0 and 1: $(0.5)^3+2(0.5)^2-3(0.5)\gt0$ $0.125+0.5-1.5>0$ $-0.875>0 \rightarrow \text{ FALSE}$ Fourth test with a value greater than 1: $4^3+2(4)^2-3(4)\gt0$ $64+32-12>0$ $84>0 \rightarrow \text{ TRUE}$ These tests show that the inequality $x^3+2x^2-3x\gt0$ is valid for values between -3 and 0, and values greater than 1 (not including them) i.e. $(-3,0)\cap (1,\infty)$.
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