CHAPTER 1

POLYNOMIALS

A polynomial function is one of the most basic type of functions in Mathematics. In semester one, we have seen polynomials from Calculus perspective. In this chapter, we want to study the algebraic aspects of polynomial expressions. 1.0 INTRODUCTION TO POLYNOMIALS

If n is a nonnegative integer and a 0 , a1, a 2 ,..., a n1, a n are real numbers with a n 0 , then an expression of the form
P ( x ) a n x n a n1x n1 a n2 x n2 ... a 2 x 2 a 1x a 0 is called a polynomial with degree n in a

single variable x.
a 0 , a1, a 2 ,..., a n1, a n are called the coefficients of the polynomial, and a n is known as the leading coefficient. The degree of the polynomial is determined by the highest power of a single variable x. For an example, if

P ( x ) 5x 4 4x 3 2x 2 16
then, the degree of the polynomial is 4 since the 5 x 4 term has the highest power of x. The degree of a term in more than one variable is the sum of the powers of the variables. Example: The degree of 5 x 3 y 4 z is 7. The degree of a polynomial in more than one variable is equal to the highest degree of any of its terms. For an example: The degree of 7 x 3 y 2 x 2 y 3 x 2y is 5. Polynomial with degree 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 has a special name as shown in the table 1.1. Polynomial
a0
a 1x a 0

Degree 0 1 2 3 4 Table 1.1

Special name Constant Linear Quadratic Qubic Quartic

Example 7 4x + 5
x2 x 6

a 2 x 2 a 1x a 0 a 3 x 3 a 2 x 2 a 1x a 0 a 4 x 4 a 3 x 3 a 2 x 2 a 1x a 0

6x 3 2x 2 15x 8
2x 4 x 3 3x 2 x 2

If the polynomial only has one term, for instance 6x, it is called monomial, if the polynomial only has two terms,for instance 3x + 2, it is called binomial, and if the polynomial only has three terms, for instance 2x 2 x 4 , it is called trinomial. Let say that there are two polynomials
P ( x ) a n x n a n1x n1 ... a 1x a 0

and

Q ( x ) b n x n b n1x n1 ... b 1x b 0 .

These two polynomials are said to be equal, P(x) = Q(x) if and only if a n b n , a n1 b n1,
a n2 b n2 , . . . a1 b1, a 0 b 0

Example 1

( x 1)2 B ( x 1) C ( x 1)2 . Find the value of A, B, and C if 5x 2 6x 1 A

1.1

OPERATIONS ON POLYNOMIALS

In polynomials with one variable, the terms are usually ordered according to degree, either in "descending powers of x", or in "ascending powers of x". Addition The commutative law of addition can be used to freely permute terms into any preferred order. Two terms with the same variables raised to the same powers are called "like terms", and they can be combined using the distributive law into a single term, whose coefficient is the sum of the coefficients of the terms that were combined. Polynomials can be added using the associative law of addition which simply groups all their terms together into a single sum, possibly followed by reordering, and combining of like terms. Example 2

( x ) 4x 3 x 2 6x 5 and Q ( x ) 3x 3 7x 2 8x 2 . Find P(x) + Q(x). Given that P

Subtraction When a negative sign precedes parentheses, we find the opposite of the expression by changing the sign of each term inside the parentheses. To subtract two polynomials change the sign of each term in the second polynomial and then add. Example 3

( x ) x 3 5x 2 4x 2 and Q ( x ) 2x 3 6x 8 . Find P ( x) Q ( x ). Let P

Multiplication To multiply a polynomial with another polynomials (one or more than one), we use the distributive property, laws of exponents, addition and subtraction of polynomials. Example 4

( x ) x 2 2x and Q ( x ) 2x 3 x 2 7 . Find P Let P ( x ). Q ( x ).

Division Generally, a polynomial P(x) of nth degree can be divided with another polynomial D(x) of rth degree,and D(x) 0 if r n. Division of

P ( x) will produced a polynomial Q(x), of degree (n-r) and the remainder R(x) of D( x)

degree ( r-1) or zero. We can write,

P( x) R( x) Q( x) D( x) D( x)
P(x) is called dividend D(x) is called divisor Q(x) is called quotient and R(x) is called remainder.

or

P( x) D( x)Q( x) R( x) .

Example 5 Simplify

4x 3 2x 2 x 6 . x2

If the denominator is a polynomial expression with more than one term, we can obtain the quotient by long division method. Example 6 Find
2x 2 9x 18 by long division. x 6

Example 7 Divide the polynomial ( ) +1, by .

The reader might have noticed by now that division of polynomial to obtain the remainder R is a tedious affair. Fortunately, the remainder theorem is capable of finding the remainder R without actually performing the division. This theorem will be discussed in the next section. Before that, let us have a look at the following examples. Example 8 Find
x 3 27 by long division. x 3

Example 9 a) Express
R( x ) 2x 3 x 2 x 1 in the form of Q( x ) D( x ) x4

b)

Find

x 3 216 x6 .

1.2

REMAINDER THEOREM

Recall that when a polynomial P(x) is divided by D(x), we obtain another polynomial Q(x) and a remainder R(x). If D(x) is a linear expression (x k), then P(x) can be written as
P( x) R Q( x) .......( 1) x k x k

or P(x) Dividend (x-k) divisor Q(x) quotient + R(2) remainder

The remainder is a constant since the degree of R is less than the degree of the divisor which has a degree 1. The above identity is true for all values of x. Remainder can be determined by substituting suitable value of x such that (x-k) equal to zero. Let x = k, P(k) = (k-k)Q(k) + R R= P(k) 4

Remainder Theorem: When a polynomial P(x) is divided by (x - k), then the remainder is P(k) Example 10 Find the remainder when P(x) = x3 - 2x2 + 3x + 1 is divided by (x -1). Example 11 Find the remainder when P(x) = 2x3 +x2 x + 1 is divided by (a) x + 4 (b) 2x - 3

1.3

FACTOR THEOREM AND ZEROS OF POLYNOMIAL

From identity (2) in section 1.2, P(x)= (x - k) Q(x) +R(3) By remainder theorem, R=P(k), Thus, P(x) =(x-k)Q(x) +P(k) If P(k)=0, P(x) = (x-k)Q(x) (x-k) is a factor of P(x). If (x-k) is a factor , P(x) = (x-k) Q(x) That is Remainder = 0, Hence P(k) = 0 (remainder theorem)

Factor Theorem: For a polynomial P(x), P(k) =0 if and only if (x-k) is a factor of P(x). Values of k such that P(k) =0, are called the zeros of a polynomial. By finding the zeros of a polynomial we can factorise the polynomial easily as shown in the next few examples. Example 12 Show that (x - 2) is a factor of x3 - 4x2 + 3x + 2.

Example 13 Factorise x3 + 2x2 -5 x - 6 completely by using factor theorem. Hence, find the zeros of this polynomial. Example 14 Consider the cubic polynomial P(x) = 2x3 - x2 - 13x 6. (a) (b) (c) Find all the factors of P(x) Solve P(x) = 0 State the zeros of P(x).

Example 15 Factorise 6x4 + 3x2 - 5x2 - 3x -1 completely . Example 16 When x3 - 3x2 + 5x + q is divided by x + 1 the remainder is -7. Find the value of q. Example 17 When P(x) = 2x4 + 3x3 - 5x2 + ax + b is divided by x+3 the remainder is 36, and when divided by x -1 the remainder is 8, find the values of a and b. Example 18 When P(x) = ax3 + bx2 - 6x + 1 is divided by (x - 2) the remainder is 17, and (x -1) is a factor of P(x), find the values of a and b.

EXERCISE 1.1
1. If 2x3+x2-7x+6Ax3+(x-B)(x-C), find the constants A, B and C.(Ans: A=2,B=1or6, C=6 or 1). If x3+2x2-17x-17( x-4)(x+5)(x+A)+Bx+C, find the values of A, B and C. (Ans: A=1,B=2, C=3) Factorise 2x3 + 4x2 + x 7 completely. (Ans: (x 1)(2x2 + 6x + 7)) Find the values of k and p so that the expression -2x3 kx2 + 7x + p can be divided into 2x2 + 5x + 3 without leaving any remainder. (Ans: k = 1, p = 6) Find the value of k if x3 + x2 2x k leaves a remainder of -2 when divided by x 1. (Ans: k = 2)

2.

3. 4.

5.

6.

When 2x3 ax2 + bx + 30 is divided by x 1 the remainder is 18, and when divided by x + 4 the remainder is -182. Find the values of a and b. (Ans: a = 7, b = -7) Find all the linear factors of -2x3 + x2 + 18x 9. (Ans: (2x 1)(3 x)(3 + x)) Find all the factors of 2x3 7x2 4x + 15. (Ans: (2x 3)( x 1 6 )( x 1 6 ) ) Find the values of p and q so that x3 + px2 - 14x + q is divisible by x2 + 5x + 6 without leaving any remainder. (Ans: p = 1, q = -24) Find the only real root of x3 1 = 0. (Ans: x = 1) Factorise P(x) = 2x4 + 3x3 19x2 + 6x + 8 and hence find the zeros of P(x). 1 (Ans: (x 1)(x 2)(2x + 1)(x + 4), the zeros of P(x): 1, 2, , -4) 2 Solve 2x3 + 5x2 + 2x 1 = 0. (Ans: x 1 , x

7. 8. 9.

10. 11.

12. 13.

3 17 ) 4

Find the quotient and the remainder when 4x3 20x2 + 13x + 12 is divided by x + 1. (Ans: Q(x) = 4x2 24x + 37, R(x) = -25) Find the quotient and remainder when x4 + x2 2x + 8 is divided by x2 + x + 1. (Ans: Q(x) = x2 x + 1, R(x) = -2x+7)
1 5 Find the zeros of P(x) = 4x3 20x2 + 19x + 15. (Ans: 3, , ) 2 2 3 2 When P(x) = 3x ax bx + 8 is divided by (x 1) the remainder is 2 and (x - 2) is a factor of P(x), find the values of a and b. (Ans: a = 7, b = 2)

14.

15. 16.

1.4

PARTIAL FRACTIONS

The ratio of two polynomials is known as rational expression. For example:

(a) 2 3x 5 ,

(b)

5x 1 2x 2 3 x 7

(c )

4x 9 2x 1

(d)

7x 4 1 x 3 4x 5

The rational expressions (a) and (b) are referred to as proper rational expressions where the degree of polynomial in the denominator is less than the degree of polynomial in the numerator. When the degree of polynomial in the denominator is greater or equal to the numerator the rational expression is known as improper rational expression for example expression (c) and (d). Two or more rational expressions can be added to form a single rational expression. For example
1 3 ( x 1) 3(2x 1) 2x 1 x 1 (2x 1)( x 1) (2x 1)( x 1) ( x 1) 3(2x 1) (2x 1)( x 1) x 1 6x 3 (2x 1)( x 1) 7x 2 (2x 1)( x 1)

The reverse process of expressing a rational expression into two or more simpler fractions is known as partial fraction decomposition that is
7x 2 (2x 1)( x 1)

can be written as

1 3 2x 1 x 1

1 3 are known as partial fractions .This technique is very useful , 2x 1 x 1 in Calculus which will be discussed in Chapter 4.

The simpler fractions

Any proper rational expression

P( x ) can be expressed as a sum of partial fractions. The partial Q( x )

fractions can be determined based on the factorisation of Q(x). The four categories of Q(x) and improper rational expression will be discussed below.

I)

Denominator with Distinct Linear Factors

The denominator Q(x) of the rational expression is a product of distinct linear factors. For each A linear factor (ax+b) the corresponding partial fraction is of the form ,thus the rational ax b expression can be expressed as

A1 A2 Am P ( x) ... Q ( x ) a 1x b 1 a 2 x b 2 amx bm
The unknown constants A1, A2, Am can be determined by (a) (b) comparing coefficients of like terms or substituting suitable values of x.

Example 19 Write the following as partial fractions:

6x ( x 1)( x 4)

Example 20 Express

5x 1 2x 5 x 3
2

as partial fractions.

II)

Denominator with Repeated Linear Factors

The denominator Q(x) of the rational expression has repeated linear factors. For each factor (ax+b)n, the corresponding partial fraction is of the form

A1 A2 An ... 2 ( ax b ) ( ax b ) ( a x b )n
Example 21 Express the following as partial fraction: (a)

2x 1 x 2 10x 25

(b)

2x 2 3 (3 x 4)( x 2) 2

III)

Denominator with Irreducible Quadratic Factors

The denominator Q(x) of the rational expression has an irreducible quadratic factor, that is a quadratic polynomial which cannot be expressed as a product of two linear factors with real coefficients. For each irreducible quadratic factor (ax2+bx+c) the corresponding partial fraction is of the form

Ax B ( ax bx c )
2

Example 22 Find the partial fraction decomposition of the following: (a)

3x 2 x 1 ( x 1)( x 2 4 )

(b)

2 x 2x 2 2x 4 + x
3

- x2

IV)

Denominator with repeated Quadratic Factors

The denominator Q(x) of the rational expression has repeated quadratic factors. For each factor (ax2+bx+c)n, the corresponding partial fraction is of the form

A 1x B1 (ax bx c )
2

A 2 x B2 (ax bx c )
2 2

...

A n x Bn (ax 2 bx c )n

Example 23 State the form of partial fractions decomposition for the following expression:
3x 3 x 9 ( 4 x 3)( x 2 7)( x 2 3 x 1) 2

Do not determine the values of the unknown constants. Example 24 Express the following in partial fraction:
4 x 2 5 x 14 ( x 2 3) 2

10

V)

Improper Rational Expression

For the case of improper rational fraction, express it as a sum of polynomial and proper fraction by long division. Then determine the partial fractions for the proper rational expression. Example 25 Express the following improper fraction in partial fractions:
8x 2 x 4 (2x 1) 2 .

Example 26 Express the following in partial fractions:

3x 4 x 3 x 2 x 4 . x 3 2x

EXERCISE 1.2
Express each of the rational expressions in questions 1-10 as partial fractions. Do not determine the values of the unknown constants. (1) (3) (5) (7) (9)

5x ( x 1)( x 3)

(2) (4) (6) (8) (10)

3x 2 x 1 (1 x )(1 2 x )( 2 x ) 2x 1 ( x 5)( x 1) 2

2 (3x 1)( x 4) x6 (7 x 1) 2

5x 2 2 (4x 1)(2x 1) 3 x 2 5x 1 (1 x)(x 2 3x 1) x 4 3x 2 5 ( x 1)(3 x 2 ) (x 2 4x 1) 2

1 x2 x (2x 2 1) 7 2 x (6 x 2 1) 2

11

Express each of the rational functions in questions 11-26 in partial fractions. (11) (13) (15) (17) (19) (21) (23) (25) 27.

3 ( x 1)( x 4)

(12) (14) (16) (18) (20) (22) (24) (26)

3x 2 1 ( x 1)(x 2 x 1) x 2 5x (x 1)(x 3) 2 1 4x 2x 2 3x 1
25 3x 2 x 3 10 x 2 25 x
x3 1 4 x 2 12x 9 12 x 2 1 4x 2 1

x 9 ( x 2) 2 3x 5 2 x 6x 7

11 ( x 1)( x 2 2)

3x 3 2x 2 6 . ( x 2 4) 2
x 3 2x 6 x 2 ( x 2 6) 2 x2 x 7 ( x 2 1) ( x 2 x 1)

3x 3 8x 2 1 3 x 2 2x 1

2 x 4 x 3 5x 6 x3 8

2x 3 13x (x 1)(2x 2 1)

Find the values of A, B and C which satisfy the following identity:

4x 1 A Bx C 2 2 ( x 1)(3x 7 x 1) ( x 1) 3x 7 x 1
28. (a) (b) If 2x2 -12x +23 C + A( x B)2, find the values of A, B and C Given the identity

x 2 3x 5 B C , find the values of the A (x 6)(x 1) x 6 x 1

constant A, B and C.

29.

Given that and q.

px q A B ,find the values of A and B in term of p x 2x 1 x 1 (x 1) 2

2

30.

Show that (x-1) is a factor of x3+x2+2x-4 and then factorise the expression fully. Hence

2x 2 x 3 decompose 3 into partial fractions. x x 2 2x 4

31. Given that P(x) = 2x3-5x2-4x+3, factorise P(x) completely. Hence express

2x 2 3 x 13 as partial fractions. 2x 3 5 x 2 4 x 3
12