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Mathematics

Factorise the following:

a3 - a - 120

Factorisation

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Answer

a3 - a - 120 = a3 - a - 125 + 5.

Rearranging above terms we get,

a3 - 125 - a + 5

= [a3 - (5)3] - (a - 5)

We know that,

a3 - b3 = (a - b)(a2 + ab + b2).

[a3 - (5)3] - (a - 5) = (a - 5)(a2 + 5a + 52) - (a - 5)

= (a - 5)(a2 + 5a + 25 - 1)

= (a - 5)(a2 + 5a + 24).

Hence, a3 - a - 120 = (a - 5)(a2 + 5a + 24).

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