Problem Set Polynomials

Problem
Polynomials
Set
1. Let P (x) be a monic polynomial of degree 5 such that P (1) = 4, P (2) = 8, P (3) = 12,
P (4) = 16, and P (5) = 20. Find P (7).
2. Let P (x) be a polynomial with integer coecients such that P (1) = 1, P (2) = 2. Prove
that 60 divides P (10) − P (5) − 5.
3. Suppose a1 , a2 , a3 are the roots of the polynomial equation 2x3 + 3x2 + 7x + 4 = 0. Find
the values of:
1 1 1
(a) + +
a1 a2 a3
(b) a31 + a32 + a33
(c) (1 + a1 )(1 + a2 )(1 + a3 )
1 1 1
(d) + +
1 + a1 1 + a2 1 + a3
(e) a41 + a42 + a43
4. Suppose all the roots of the equation
x4 − 4x3 + ax2 + bx + 1 = 0

are positive real numbers. Show that all the roots are equal.
5. Suppose two of the roots of the equation x4 − 8x3 + ax2 + bx + 12 = 0 are 1 and 2. Find
the other two roots.
6. Suppose α1 , α2 , α3 are the roots of the polynomial equation x3 + ax2 + bx + c = 0. Find
the equation whose roots are α12 + 1, α22 + 1, α32 + 1.
7. Let α, β be the roots of the quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0. Find the quadratic
equation whose roots are α2 β, αβ 2 .
8. If α, β are the roots of 2x2 − 5x − 4 = 0, nd the quadratic equation whose roots are
1 1
α+ , β+ .
α β
9. If a, b are two of the roots of x4 +x3 −1 = 0, prove that ab is a root of x6 +x4 +x3 −x2 −1 = 0.
10. Suppose u, v, w are the roots of the polynomial
P (x) = x3 + 20x2 + 13x + 42,
1 1 1
and , , are the roots of the polynomial
u v w
Q(x) = x3 + rx2 + sx + t.

Find Q(1).
11. α, β, γ are the roots of the equation x3 + px2 + qx + r = 0. Find the equation whose roots
are
1 1 1
α− , β− , γ− .
βγ αγ αβ

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Problem Set Polynomials

12. Let P (x) = x3 − 6x2 + 11x − 6 be a cubic polynomial with r1 , r2 , r3 as its roots. Find the
3 3 3
monic cubic polynomial whose roots are , , .
r1 + 1 r2 + 1 r3 + 1
1
13. Let P (x) be a polynomial of degree 98 such that P (k) = , for k = 1, 2, . . . , 99. Find
k
P (100).
14. Let a and b be two real numbers. If the roots of the quadratic equation
x2 − ax − b = 0

are real and have absolute value less than 1, then show that each of the following holds:
• |b| < 1
• a+b<1
• b−a<1
15. Let ax2 + bx + c be a quadratic polynomial with real coecients for which |ax2 + bx + c| ≤ 1
holds for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. Prove that |a| + |b| + |c| ≤ 17. Give an example where the equality
holds.
16. Let b, c be real numbers and suppose the roots of the equation x2 + bx + c = 0 are both
real and greater than 1. Prove that b + c + 1 > 0.
17. Find the remainder when x100 is divided by x2 − 3x + 2.
18. If a, b, c are real numbers so that
x3 + ax2 + bx + c = (x2 + 1) g(x)

for some polynomial g . Prove that b = 1 and a = c.

19. Prove that there cannot exist a polynomial f (x) for which xf (x − 1) = (x + 1)f (x) holds
for all real x.
20. Suppose f (x) is a polynomial with integer coecients and there exists a positive integer k
such that none of the integers f (1), f (2), . . . , f (k) is divisible by k. Prove that f (x) has no
integer zeros.
21. Let f (x) = ax2 + bx + c, where a, b and c are real numbers. Suppose f (x) ̸= x for any real
x. Prove that there does not exist any real solution to the equation f (f (x)) = x.
22. Suppose f (x) = c0 + c1 x + c2 x2 + · · · + cn xn = (2 + x)n . If
n
X
ci = 81,
i=0

nd the largest coecient cj of f .

23. Let 1, α1 , . . . , α6 be the distinct roots of x7 − 1. Find the value of
(1 − α1 )(1 − α2 ) · · · (1 − α6 ).

24. If a, b, c > 0, is it possible that each of the polynomials P (x) = ax2 + bx + c, Q(x) =
cx2 + ax + b, R(x) = bx2 + cx + a has two real roots?
25. If a, b, c are the roots of the equation x3 + px2 + qx + r = 0, then nd the equation whose
roots are ab, bc, ca.

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Problem Set Polynomials

26. Let f be a monic polynomial with integer coecients and there are four distinct integers
a, b, c, d for which
f (a) = f (b) = f (c) = f (d) = 12.
Prove that there is no integer k for which f (k) = 25.
27. Suppose the equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 has a rational solution. If a, b, c are integers, not
all zero, then prove that at least one of a, b, c is even.
28. Find the number of polynomials of the form x3 +ax2 +bx+c, which are divisible by (x2 +1),
and where a, b and c belong to {1, 2, . . . , 10}.
29. Prove that, if the roots of x2 +px+q are real, then the roots of x2 +px+q+(x+a)(2x+p) = 0
will be real for every real number a.
30. Let f (x) = x4 + x3 + x2 + x + 1. Find the remainder when f (x5 ) is divided by f (x).
31. Let p(x) be a polynomial with integer coecients. Assume that p(a) = p(b) = p(c) = −1,
where a, b, c are three distinct integers. Prove that p(x) has no integral zeros.
32. Let n be an even positive integer, and let p(x) be an n-degree polynomial such that p(k) =
p(−k) for k = 1, 2, . . . , n. First prove that p(x) = p(−x) for all x real, and hence conclude
that there is a polynomial q(x) such that p(x) = q(x2 ).
33. Prove that there is no polynomial P (x) = an xn +an−1 xn−1 +· · ·+a0 with integer coecients
and of degree at least 1 with the property that P (0), P (1), P (2), . . . are all prime numbers.
34. Let f (x) = an xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 be a polynomial of degree n ≥ 1 with integer
coecients. Show that there are innitely many positive integers m for which f (m) is not
prime.
35. Let the zeros m, n, k of t3 + at + b be rational. Prove that the roots of mt2 + nt + k are
rational.
36. A polynomial P (x) of the nth degree satises P (k) = 2k for k = 0, 1, . . . , n. Determine
P (n + 1).
37. Find the polynomial whose roots are the cube of the roots of the polynomial t3 + at2 + bt + c
(here a, b, c are constants).
38. A certain polynomial p(x) when divided by (x − a), (x − b), (x − c) leaves remainders a, b, c,
respectively. What is the remainder when p(x) is divided by (x − a)(x − b)(x − c)? [a, b, c
are distinct.]

39. Let a, b, c be distinct integers. Show that the polynomial (x − a)(x − b)(x − c) − 1 cannot
be factored into the product of two non-constant polynomials with integer coecients.
40. Let P (x), Q(x) and R(x) be polynomials such that P (x5 ) + xQ(x5 ) + x2 R(x5 ) is divisible
by x4 + x3 + x2 + x + 1. Prove that P (x) is divisible by (x − 1).
41. First show that a real polynomial of odd degree must have at least one real root. Hence
conclude that if a polynomial with real coecients does not have any real root, it must
have even degree. Using the result prove the following:
Let f (x) and g(x) be nonzero polynomials with real coecients such that f (x2 + x + 1) =
f (x)g(x). Show that f (x) has even degree.
42. Let
f (x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn

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Problem Set Polynomials

be a polynomial whose coecients satisfy the conditions 0 ≤ ai ≤ a0 (i = 0, 1, . . . , n). Let

(f (x))2 = b0 + b1 x + · · · + bn+1 xn+1 + · · · + b2n x2n .

Prove that
bn+1 ≤ 12 (f (1))2 .
43. Suppose u and v are two real numbers such that u, v and uv are the three roots of a cubic
polynomial with rational coecients. Show that at least one root is rational.
44. If a and b are real and unequal, prove that the equation
(a − b)xn + (a2 − b2 )xn−1 + · · · + (an − bn )x + an+1 − bn+1 = 0

has at most one real root.

45. Let a, b, c be three distinct integers and P (x) is a polynomial with integer coecients. Show
that it is impossible to have P (a) = b, P (b) = c and P (c) = a, simultaneously.
46. Suppose the polynomial xn + a1 xn−1 + a2 xn−2 + · · · + an can be factored into
(x + r1 )(x + r2 ) · · · (x + rn ),

where r1 , r2 , . . . , rn are real numbers. Prove that (n − 1)a21 ≥ 2na2 .

47. Let p1 , p2 , . . . , pn be distinct integers and let f (x) be the polynomial of degree n given by
f (x) = (x − p1 )(x − p2 ) · · · (x − pn ).

Prove that the polynomial

g(x) = (f (x))2 + 1
cannot be expressed as the product of two non-constant polynomials with integer coe-
cients.
48. Let ax2 + bx + c be a quadratic polynomial with real coecients for which |ax2 + bx + c| ≤ 1
for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. Prove that |a| + |b| + |c| ≤ 17. Give an example for which the equality holds.
49. The equation (x − a1 )(x − a2 ) · · · (x − an ) = 1 where ai 's are real numbers, has n real roots
r1 , r2 , . . . , rn . Find the minimum number of real roots of the equation

(x − r1 )(x − r2 ) · · · (x − rn ) = −1.

50. Let f (x) be a polynomial which satises

f (x2 ) + f (x)f (x + 1) = 0.

Prove the results:

(a) If r is a root of f , then so are r2 and (r − 1)2 .
(b) Hence show that only possible roots of f are 0 or 1.
(c) Finally, determine a general form of f (x).
51. Let the polynomial f (t) = tn + an−1 tn−1 + · · · + a1 t + 1 have non-negative coecients and
n real zeros. Prove that f (2) ≥ 3n .
52. p(x) and q(x) are polynomials which satisfy the identity p(q(x)) = q(p(x)) for all real x.
If the equation p(x) = q(x) has no real solution, show that the equation p(p(x)) = q(q(x))
has no real solution.

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Problem Set Polynomials

53. Prove that the polynomial an tn + an−1 tn−1 + · · · + a3 t3 + t2 + t + 1 with all real coecients
cannot have all its zeros real.
54. For real numbers a, b, c, suppose that 29c + 10b + 2a = 0. Then prove that the equation
ax3 + bx + c = 0 has at least one real root between 0 and 1.
55. Let f (t) be any polynomial with real coecients and with degree exceeding 1. Observe
from the graph of f that there is a real value of k for which not all zeros of f (t) + k are real
(You don't need to prove this analytically. Just visualize the graph of f and recall that
the operation +k is nothing but shifting the graph of f by k amount upward or downward,
depending on the sign of k.). Use this observation in the following problem:
Let p(t) be a polynomial for which p(t) is real when t is real, and non-real when t is non-real.
Prove that p(t) must be linear. Approach via the steps given below:
(a) First show that p(t) is real if and only if t is real.
(b) Then prove that, the above statement also holds true for p(t) + k, for any real k.
(c) Use (b) to prove that each root of p(t) + k is real, for any real k.
(d) Finally, conclude that, degree of p(t) cannot exceed 1. And since p(t) cannot be
constant polynomial (why?), it must be linear.
56. Let P (x) = a0 xn + a1 xn−1 + · · · + an−1 x + an with n ≥ 3. Suppose that P (x) has all real
n2 − n
roots and a0 = 1, a1 = −n, a2 = . Determine coecients ai for i = 3, . . . , n.
2
57. Find all polynomials p(x) with xp(x − 1) = (x − 26)p(x) for all x.
58. The polynomial ax2 + bx + c with a > 0 has real zeros x1 , x2 . Show that
|xi | ≤ 1 (i = 1, 2) ⇐⇒ a + b + c ≥ 0, a − b + c ≥ 0, a − c ≥ 0.

59. Find all polynomials p(x) which satises

p(x + 1) = p(x) + 2x + 1

for all x.
60. Suppose that a polynomial P (x) = x10 − 10x9 + 39x8 + a7 x7 + · · · + a1 x + a0 has 10 real
roots. Prove that all the roots of P (x) are between −2.5 and 4.5.
61. Let P (x, y) be a symmetric polynomial in x and y , i.e. P (x, y) = P (y, x). Suppose (x − y)
is a factor of P (x, y) [i.e. P (x, y) = (x − y)Q(x, y), for some polynomial Q(x, y)]. Prove
that (x − y)2 is a factor of P (x, y).
62. Let ax2 +bx+c be a quadratic polynomial with real coecients which satises |ax2 +bx+c| ≤
1 for |x| ≤ 1. Show that |2ax + b| ≤ 4 whenever |x| ≤ 1.
63. If x3 + px2 + qx + r has three real zeros, prove that p2 ≥ 3q .
64. Let a, b, c be real numbers. Consider the equation
(x − a)(x − b) + (x − b)(x − c) + (x − c)(x − a) = 0.

Prove that the roots of this equation are always real. Further show that the roots are equal
if and only if a = b = c.
65. The polynomial ax3 + bx2 + cx + d has integral coecients with ad odd and bc even. Prove
that at least one zero of the polynomial is irrational.