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P3 TOPIC 1 ALGEBRA
TUTORIAL 2
(POLYNOMIALS : REMAINDER AND FACTOR THEOREMS)
In this topic learners should be able to:
understand the meaning of |𝒙|, sketch the graph of 𝒚 = |𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃| and use relations such as
|𝒂| = |𝒃| ⟺ 𝒂𝟐 = 𝒃𝟐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 |𝒙 − 𝒂| < 𝒃 ⟺ 𝒂 − 𝒃 < 𝒙 < 𝒂 + 𝒃 when solving equations and
inequalities e.g. |𝟑𝒙 − 𝟐| = |𝟐𝒙 + 𝟕| , 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟓 < |𝒙 + 𝟏|. Graphs of 𝒚 = |𝒇(𝒙)| and 𝒚 =
𝒇(|𝒙|) for non linear functions 𝒇 are not included.
divide a polynomial, of degree not exceeding 4, by a linear or quadratic polynomial, and
identify the quotient and remainder (which may be zero)
use the factor theorem and the remainder theorem e.g. to find factors and remainders, solve
polynomial equations or evaluate unknown coefficients. Including factors of the form
(𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃) in which the coefficient of 𝒙 is not unity, and including calculation of remainders.
recall an appropriate form of expressing rational functions in partial fractions, and carry
out the decomposition, in cases where the denominator is no more complicated than
- (𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃)(𝒄𝒙 + 𝒅)(𝒆𝒙 + 𝒇)
- (𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃)(𝒄𝒙 + 𝒅)𝟐
- (𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃)(𝒄𝒙𝟐 + 𝒅) excluding cases where the degree of numerator exceeds that of
denominator
Use the expansion of (𝟏 + 𝒙)𝒏 , where 𝒏 is a rational number and |𝒙| < 𝟏. Adapting the
𝟏 −𝟏
standard series to expand e.g. (𝟐 − 𝟐 𝒙) is included, and determining the set of values of 𝒙
for which expansion is valid in such cases is also included.
Introduction
A polynomial is an expression containing many terms. The terms must have constant coefficients
and must have one variable raised to positive integer powers. E.g. 2𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 + 2.
We shall look at division of polynomials and use remainder and factor theorems to find unknown
coefficients in polynomials. Factorization of a polynomial shall be considered.
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1 Division of polynomials
Any polynomial can be divided by another polynomial of lessor order, to give remainder
and quotient. But sometimes there will be no remainder.
Division is set out like long division in Arithmetic’s.
Example 1
Divide 𝑥 3 + 2𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 − 7 by 𝑥 − 2 stating the quotient and remainder.
𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓
Example 2
[3]
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𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓
Example 3
Show that the polynomial 𝑝(𝑥) = 𝑥 4 + 5𝑥 − 6 is exactly divisible by 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 3. Hence
factorise 𝑝(𝑥) completely. [4]
𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓
𝑥2 + 𝑥 − 2
𝑥2 − 𝑥 + 3 𝑥4 + 5𝑥 − 6
𝑥 4 − 𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 Subt
𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 5𝑥
𝑥 3 − 𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 Subt
−2𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 − 6
−2𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 − 6 Subt
0 0 0
Remainder = 0 hence 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 3 divides into 𝑝(𝑥) exactly (or is a factor of 𝑝(𝑥) ).
𝑝(𝑥) = (𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 3)(𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 2)
= (𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙 + 𝟑)(𝒙 + 𝟐)(𝒙 − 𝟏)
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Example 4
𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 + 2
𝑥2 − 𝑥 + 1 𝑥 4 + 2𝑥 3 + 𝑎𝑥 +𝑏
𝑥4 − 𝑥3 + 𝑥2 Subt
3𝑥 3 − 𝑥 2 + 𝑎𝑥
3𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 Subt
2𝑥 2 + (𝑎 − 3)𝑥 + 𝑏
2𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 +2 Subt
(𝑎 − 1)𝑥 + 𝑏 − 2
Since 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 1 is a factor then (𝑎 − 1)𝑥 + 𝑏 − 2 = 0
Hence 𝑎 − 1 = 0 and 𝑏 − 2 = 0 ⟹ 𝒂 = 𝟏 and 𝒃 = 𝟐.
2 The remainder and factor theorems
Divident Quotient Remainder Divisor
9 1
In arithmetics, = 2 +
4 4
When 𝑝(𝑥) is divided by (𝑥 − 𝑎) to give a quotient 𝑄 and a remainder 𝑅, we write
𝑝(𝑥) ≡ (𝑥 − 𝑎)𝑄 + 𝑅
Substituting 𝑥 = 𝑎 in 𝑝(𝑥) gives
𝑝(𝑎) = 𝑅
The above is called the remainder theorem, a short way of finding remainder.
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑(𝒙) 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 (𝒙 − 𝒂) 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒑(𝒂).
𝑝(𝑎) = 0 ⟺ (𝑥 − 𝑎) 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑(𝒙), (𝒙 − 𝒂) 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒇 𝒑(𝒂) = 𝟎 𝒊. 𝒆. 𝑹 = 𝟎
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Example 5
𝐴𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟
(i) 𝑝(2) = 8 − 6𝑎 + 4𝑎 = 0 factor theorem.
𝒂=𝟒
(ii) (a) Use long division to find quotient 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 − 8
Hence 𝑝(𝑥) = (𝑥 − 2)(𝑥 − 2)(𝑥 + 4) = (𝒙 + 𝟒)(𝒙 − 𝟐)𝟐
(b) 𝑝(𝑥 2 ) = 0 ⟹ 𝑥 2 = 2 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑒 and 𝑥 2 = −4
𝒙 = ±√𝟐 and 𝑥 = 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 (±2𝑖)
Example 6
𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓
1 1 1 5
(i) 𝑝 (2) = 8 𝑎 + 4 𝑏 + 2 − 2 = 0, 2𝑥 − 1 is a factor
𝑝(2) = 8𝑎 + 4𝑏 + 10 − 2 = 12, remainder theorem.
Solve simultaneously for 𝑎 and 𝑏 to obtain 𝒂 = 𝟐 and 𝒃 = −𝟑.
(ii) Use long division of 𝑝(𝑥) by factor 2𝑥 − 1 to get other factor 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙 + 𝟐.
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