Consider the equation $x^3 - x - 30 = 0$.
a. Fill in the blank to make the statement true.
The equation can be rearranged as $x = (x + \text{_____})^{1/3}$.
b. The table below shows a few values for $x$ and $f(x)$, where $f(x) = x^3 - x - 30$.
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
$x$ & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\
\hline
$f(x)$ & -30 & -24 & -6 & 30 & 90 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
Fill in the blanks to make the statement true.
The smallest interval in which $f(x)$ is guaranteed to have a root $\alpha$ is $(\text{_____}, \text{_____})$.
c. Find the value of $\alpha$, to three decimal places, by using $x_0 = 3.5$ as a first approximation for $\alpha$ and the iteration formula from part a).