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Polynomials
Well, we can also divide polynomials.
f(x) is 2x2-5x-1
g(x) is x-3
q(x) is 2x+1
r(x) is 2
f(x) = (x-c)q(x) + r
f(c) = (c-c)q(c) + r
f(c) = (0)q(c) + r
f(c) = r
So we get this:
The Remainder Theorem:
When we divide a polynomial f(x) by x-c the remainder r equals f(c)
So when we want to know the remainder after dividing by x-c we don't need to do any
division:
Example: x2-3x-4
f(4) = (4)2-3(4)-4 = 16-12-4 = 0
so (x-4) must be a factor of x2-3x-4
And so we have:
The Factor Theorem:
When f(c)=0 then x-c is a factor of the polynomial
And the other way around, too:
When x-c is a factor of the polynomial then f(c)=0
The factor "x-c" and the root "c" are the same thing
Know one and we know the other
For one thing, it means that we can quickly check if (x-c) is a factor of the polynomial.
Example: 2x3-x2-7x+2
The polynomial is degree 3, and could be difficult to solve. So let us plot it first:
The curve crosses the x-axis at three points, and one of them might be at 2. We can check
easily:
f(2) = 2(2)3-(2)2-7(2)+2 = 16-4-14+2 = 0
Yes! f(2)=0, so we have found a root and a factor.
Summary
The Remainder Theorem: