Question

p(x)=x^5+6x^3+5x^2+30 what is the real number roots of p and how many distinct, real number roots does p have.

Answer 1

One way of attacking this problem is to graph the given function p(x) with a graphing calculator. My results showed immediately that the graph crosses the x-axis in only one place.

Therefore, p(x) has only one distinct, real number root, and that root is approx. x=-1.2.