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Integer Solutions for Quadratic Factors

The document finds all integers n such that the quadratic equation 5x^2 + nx - 13 can be expressed as the product of two linear factors with integer coefficients. It shows that given the prime leading coefficient of 5, the only possible values for n are ±8 and ±64. These values for n satisfy the constraints that the coefficients of the linear factors must be integers and their product must equal -13.

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8 views1 page

Integer Solutions for Quadratic Factors

The document finds all integers n such that the quadratic equation 5x^2 + nx - 13 can be expressed as the product of two linear factors with integer coefficients. It shows that given the prime leading coefficient of 5, the only possible values for n are ±8 and ±64. These values for n satisfy the constraints that the coefficients of the linear factors must be integers and their product must equal -13.

Uploaded by

Michael
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

1.

Find all integers n such that the quadratic 5x2 + nx 13 can be expressed as the product of
two linear factors with integer coefficients.

Solution:
Since the leading term coefficient of the quadratic is 5, a prime number, the coefficients of the linear
factors x terms must be either 1 and 5 or -1 and -5.

Recall: A prime number is natural number greater than 1 that is only divisible by 1 and itself.

Given the prime leading coefficient, we can devise a general expression in the form of two products of
two linear factors with integer coefficients for each of the two cases (1 and 5, or -1 and -5):

Case 1: (x r)*(5x s)
Case 2: (-x r)*(-5x s)
Note: r, s are integers.

Let us consider Case 1. Setting this expression equal to our quadratic, 5x2 + nx 13 gives




(x r)*(5x s) = 5x2 + nx 13

FOILing the left hand side gives




5x2 x(s + 5r) + rs = 5x2 + nx 13

Notice that we now have the following constraints:
A) s + 5r = n
B) rs = -13

Since 13 is a prime number, its only factors are 1 and 13. Therefore, we have the following four cases
within constraint B:

B1) s = -13, r = 1



B2) s = 13, r = -1
B3) s = 1, r = -13



B4) s = -1, r = 13

Note that the product rs in each case above satisfies the B constraint of rs = -13. Plugging in the r, s
values of each respective case of constraint B into constraint A (n = s + 5r) gives


B1





B2
n = (-13) + 5(1)



n = (13) + 5(-1)
n = -13 + 5




n = 13 - 5
n = -8




n = +8

B3





B4
n = (1) + 5(-13)



n = (-1) + 5(13)
n = 1 - 65




n = -1 + 65
n = -64




n = +64

Therefore, for Case 1 we have shown that n = +8, -8, +64, -64 are the integers for n that yield the
expression of quadratic as the product of two linear factors with integer coefficients. Likewise, for
Case 2 we will arrive at the same results for n.

Check:
Observe case B1 where r = 1 and s = -13 correspond to n = +8. Beginning with our general expression
of Case 1:

(x r)*(5x s) = [x (+1)]*[5x (-13)] = (x 1)*(5x + 13) = 5x2 + 13x 5x 13 = 5x2 + 8x 13

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