Name _Andrew Sudweeks__

Fall 2016 Date _2/11/2017___

Math 1010
Conceptual Quiz, Chapter 5

Answer the following questions. Answers may vary in length from a few sentences to a
paragraph. Use correct grammar, including using complete sentences. Answers with abundant
grammatical errors will not be awarded full credit. If you need more space than is provided,
attach a separate sheet with your answers.

Ch.5: Polynomials and Polynomial Functions

1. Why do we say x squared for and x cubed for??

That has to do with their use in geometry I believe. We use x2, or x squared, when we are talking
about the area of a shape which is a two dimensional measurement, and thus requires two
numbers to make. We use x3, or x cubed when we are talking about the volume of a thing, which
is a three dimensional measurement and thus requires three numbers to make.

2. Draw a 55 square (so it has 25 sub-squares). Is it possible to remove some sub-squares

so that the remaining ones still form a square? Can the sub-squares that you removed be
formed into a square? Sketch your results. What factoring rule does this illustrate?

It is possible to remove the nine center squares and still have a square. It is also possible to
remove the center most square from a 33 set of squares and still have a square. I'm not really
sure which factoring rule this demonstrates, mostly because while I am familiar with how to
factor equations and expressions I'm not familiar with the written rules.
 3. Not everything follows a straight line pattern. Can you give an example from the physical
world of something that naturally moves along a curved path?

Planets and their orbits. I've heard of a planet that has an orbit comprised of straight lines.

4. Why is it important to set factored polynomials equal to zero?

I think this is we can start to find the various possible solutions that be x which is harder to do
with some non-factored polynomials.

5. Find an example of an application of a polynomial equation that, upon analysis, could

result in saving money or making money.
I don't have a good answer for this, but after doing a little bit of research it seems that one
possible application involves investments have an interest rate of some sort. Say you had a
savings account with a bank and deposited x amount of money in to it, and you were looking to
buy a car using a payment plan. The payment would most likely also have an interest rate and
you would be require to pay y on it each month. I f we were to plug this into a mathematical
expression and assigned values to the interest rates (let's use 5% for the savings account and
7.8% for the car payment) it would look a little something like this 1.05x-1.078y. Using this
formula (which I think qualifies as a polynomial) you would be able to plug in various numbers
in for x and y to find out how much you could afford to spend on your car payment and still
build up your savings account. It is also important to bear in mind that this expression would
look a lot more complicated if you used it to put together your budget. If used to help put
together a budget it would probably look a little more like this (p-g-u-c-h-f-e-i) where g' stands
for groceries, u stands for utility bills, 'c' stands for car payment, 'h' stands for housing, 'f'
stands for fuel for the ca, 'e' stands for entertainment, and 'i' stands for insurance.