Abstract: "Back in the day" we all learned the fabled quadratic formula. This famous (and scary for many of my friends back then) formula allows us to find the roots of polynomials of the form Ax2+Bx+C and is usually derived by "completing the square" (a simple technique that we will briefly review).
Although the quadratic formula is something that is covered (usually with extreme prejudice) in high school, it is probably the case that the cubic formula is not encountered there (in fact, the cubic formula is usually not EVER "covered").
To rectify this great injustice, this talk will look at a couple of ways that a cubic equation can be solved and give a complete and elementary derivation of this perplexing animal. We will also take our formula and derive some interesting consequences that will surprise and amaze your friends. Additionally, we will discuss (briefly) "higher degree" formulae.
This talk will be elementary, interesting (I hope), and accessible to all.