Solution in radicals
A solution in radicals or algebraic solution is an expression of a solution of a polynomial equation that is algebraic, that is, relies only on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising to integer powers, and extraction of nth roots (square roots, cube roots, etc.). A well-known example is the quadratic formula x = − b ± b 2 − 4 a c 2 a , {\displaystyle x={\frac {-b\pm {\sqrt {b^{2}-4ac\ }}}{2a}},} which expresses the solutions of the quadratic equation a x 2 + b x + c = 0.