How do you factor completely -a^3-100a?

1 Answer
Jun 28, 2016

-a^3-100a=-a(a^2+100)=-a(a-10i)(a+10i)

Explanation:

-a^3-100a

= -a(a^2+100)

If we domain is real numbers, we cannot factorize it further.

However, if domain is complex numbers above is equal to

-a[a^2-10ai+10ai-100i^2]

= -a[a(a-10i)+10i(a-10i)]

= -a(a-10i)(a+10i)