Polynomials

2.1 Polynomials

Expression of the form

where are numbers, a variable and

a positive integer, is known as polynomial of degree .

 The numbers are constants and are

known as the coefficients of the polynomials. The number is also
known as the constant term.

 The leading term of a polynomial is the term with the highest power.
The exponent in the leading term is known as the degree of the
polynomial. The coefficient of the leading term is known as the
leading coefficient.
For example is a polynomial of degree 4 where

is the term of degree 4, its coefficient is 3

is the term of degree 3, its coefficient is
the coefficient of is 0,
is the term of degree 1, its coefficient is 1

is the term of degree 0 and is known as constant.

A polynomial can also be written as:


If for every value of , there is only an unique value of , then we say
that is a function of .

Besides , we can also use , etc to represent a

function.

Example 1 Determine whether the following expressions are polynomials:

Chapter 2 - 1
Polynomials

(a)
(b)

(c) (d)
(e)
(f)

Solution (a), (b), (d) and (e) are polynomials.

Example 2 State the degree, leading coefficient and the constant term of
the polynomial .

Solution is a polynomial of degree 3, its leading

coefficient is 4 and the constant term is .
State the degree of the polynomial in each case if
Example 3
(a)
(b)
(c)
Solution (a) It is a polynomial of degree 2
(b) It is a polynomial of degree 1
(c) It is a polynomial of degree 0

Classroom Practice 1
1. Determine whether the following expressions are polynomials:
(a) (b)
(c) (d)

2. State the degree of each of the following expressions. In each

expression, write down the degree of each term and its coefficient.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)

Exercise 2.1
1. Determine whether the following expressions are polynomials:
(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Chapter 2 - 2
Polynomials

(e)
2. State the leading coefficient, the constant term of each of following
polynomials and the degree of the polynomial
(a) (b)
(c) 12 (d)
3. State the degree of the polynomial if
(a) (b)
(c) (d)

2.2 Algebraic operations on polynomials

Sum and Difference of Polynomials

Terms which involve the same powers of the variables are called like
terms.
To find the sum or difference of polynomials, we can group all the
like terms together and then perform the required operations on the
coefficients.

Example 1 Given , , find

(a) (b)

Solution (a)

(b)

Product of Two Polynimials

Multiply each term in one polynomial by each term in the other.
Group all the like terms together and then perform the required operations

Chapter 2 - 3
Polynomials

on the coefficients.

Example 2 Given , , find

Solution

Division of polynomial by another polynomial

Example 3 Given , , evaluate

Solution

In general, if and are respectively the quotient and the

remainder obtained by dividing a polynomial by another
polynomial , then

Note that the degree of is less than the degree of the divisor .
In the above example, we see that the remainder is zero.
In this case, we called the divisor is a factor of the dividend .
In general, a polynomial is called a factor of a polynomial if

Chapter 2 - 4
 Polynomials

the remainder of the division of by is zero, i.e.

Example 4 Evaluate
Solution

Quotient , Remainder
The above evaluation can be done by the method of detached
coefficients as shown below:

Quotient , Remainder
Example 5 If the dividend is divided by ,
find the divisor

Solution

Example 6 Find the value of if is divisible by .

Chapter 2 - 5
 Polynomials

Solution

Since is divisible by ,

Example 7 Find the value of and if is a factor of

.

Solution

Since is a factor of ,

Chapter 2 - 6
Polynomials

Classroom Practice 2
1. Given that
evaluate (a)
(b)
2. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
3. Find the quotient and remainder when is divided by .

Exercise 2.2
1. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
2. Given , , evaluate
(a)
(b)
3. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

4. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
5. Find the value of if is divisible by .
6. Find the value of if is a factor of .
7. Given that is a factor of , find the

Chapter 2 - 7
Polynomials

values of and .
8. If is divisible by , find the
values of and .
9. If is a factor of , find the
values of and .
10. If the dividend is divided by , its quotient is
, remainder , find .

2.3 Operations on Multivariate Polynomial

The degree of a term in a multivariate polynomial is the sum of the powers

of the variables that appear in the term. The order of the multivariate
polynomial is the term with the highest power. For example,
is a polynomial of bivariables of degree 4 where
is the term of degree 4,
and are terms of degree 3.

Classroom Practice 3
Determine the order of each of the terms in and
.
Addition and subtraction of multivariate polynomials
The addition and subtraction of the multivariate polynomials is to
group the like terms together and then add up or subtract their coefficients.

Example 1 Given ,

evaluate (a) (b)

Solution (a)

Chapter 2 - 8
Polynomials

(b)

Chapter 2 - 9
Polynomials

Multiplication of two multivariate polynomials

Multiply each term in one polynomial by each term in the other. Group all
the terms together and then perform the required operations on the
coefficient.

Example 2 Given , , evaluate

.

Solution

Classroom Practice 4

1. Given ,
, evaluate (a)
(b)
2. Evaluate

Chapter 2 - 10
Polynomials

Exercise 2.3
1. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
2. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

2.4 Synthetic Division

The procedure for dividing a polynomial by a binomial of the form

, where is non – zero constant, can be accomplished very
efficiently by a method called synthetic division.
Take for example, the division of by , the
result of the division by using the method of detached coefficients is as
shown below:

the quotient is and the remainder is 42.

Now eliminate the coefficients which are duplicate of those directly above
them.

Chapter 2 - 11
Polynomials

Condense the above array, it becomes

whereby is obtained by multiplying each term of

by .

Recall that subtraction is best accompolised by adding the opposite.

Our subtraction step becomes an addition step if we change the sign of the
divisor. The signs of the coefficients in the second row change too. To
provide additional vertical condensing, the usual array then be written as

The quotient is and the remainder is 42.

To employ synthetic division to divide a polynomial by a divisor of the
, where is a non – zero constant:
1. Form the top row by writing the coefficients of the dividend. The
dividend must be written in descending powers and 0 entered as the
coefficient of all absent term. Write the value to the right of these
coefficients.
2. Bring down the first dividend entry as the first coefficient of the
quotient in the bottom row.
3. Multiply this coefficient by . Place the result in the second row
beneath the next coefficient of the dividend. Now add and place the
sum in the bottom below.

Chapter 2 - 12
Polynomials

4. Repeat the procedure in step 3 until all entries in row one have been
used.
5. The numbers in the bottom row are, from left to right, the coefficients
of the quotient in descending powers. The quotient has degree one
less than the degree of the dividend. The last number in the bottom row
is the remainder.

Example 1 Use synthetic division to divide by

.
Solution

The quotient is and the remainder is 38

Example 2 Use synthetic division to evaluate

Solution

The quotient is and the remainder is 8

Chapter 2 - 13
Polynomials

In the case when the divisor is , the method of Synthetic Division

still can be used.

Express in terms of , use Synthetic Division to find the

quotient and remainder when is divided by ,

then

Hence, the quotient of equals to the quotient of

divided by , but the remainder are the same for both
cases.
Use synthetic division to evaluate
Example 3

Solution

The quotient is and the remainder is 2.

If is divisible by , find the

Example 5
value of .

Solution

Chapter 2 - 14
Polynomials

Since is divisible by , its

remainder is zero,

Classroom Practice 5
1. Use synthetic division to evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
2. If is divisible by , find the value of .

Exercise 2.4
1. Use synthetic division to evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Chapter 2 - 15
Polynomials

2. Use synthetic division to evaluate

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
3. If is divisible by , find the value of .
4. If the remainder of on division by is 84, find
the value of .

2.5 Remainder Theorem

1. If is divided by , then the remainder is .

Let the quotient and remainder for the polynomial function
divided by , be and respectively, then

Substitute in the above equation, we have

2. If is divided by , then the remainder is .

Similarly, let the quotient and remainder for the polynomial function
divided by , be and respectively, then

3. If is divided by , then the remainder is ,

i.e.

Chapter 2 - 16
Polynomials

Example 1 Find the remainder when is

divided by .

Solution Method (1) : By synthetic division

The remainder is 2.
Method (2) : By Remainder Theorem

Find the remainder when is divided by .

Example 2
Solution Let

Chapter 2 - 17
Polynomials

Example 3 Find the value of when is divided

by the remainder is 6.
Solution

Example 4 When is divided by and

, then remainders are 7 and respectively. Find
the remainder when is divided by .

Solution By the remainder theorem, we have

By the remainder theorem, we have

The remainder of when divided by is 28.

Example 5 When the polynomial is divided by the
remainder is 5 and when is divided by the
remainder is 7. Find the remainder when is divided
by .

Chapter 2 - 18
Polynomials

Let
Solution
By the remainder theorem, we have

Similarly

Similarly into (1) :

The remainder is .

Classroom Practice 6
1. Find the remainder when is divided by .
2. Find the remainder when is divided by .
3. If leaves a remainder of 24 on division by , find .

Exercise 2.5
1. Find the remainder when is divided by .
2. Find the remainder when is divided by .
3. Find the remainder when is divided by .
4. Find the remainder when is divided by .
5. When is divided by , the remainder is
14, find the value of .
6. If leaves a remainder of 6 on division
by , find the value of .
7. When is divided by , the remainder are 3
and 1 respectively, find the value of and .
8. When are divided by and , the
remainders are 2 and , find the values of and .
9. When the polynomial is divided by , the remainder is 12.
When is divided by , the remainder is 5. Find the
remainder when is divided by .

Chapter 2 - 19
Polynomials

10. When the polynomial is divided by , the remainder is 5.

When is divided by , the remainder is . Find the
remainder when is divided by .

2.6 Factor Theorem

 If is a factor of , then .

 If is a factor of , then .

Conversely if , then is factor of .

Prove that is a factor of .

Example 1
Solution Let

is a factor of .

Example 2 Given that is a factor of , find

the value of .

Solution

Find the values of and if are divisible

Example 3
by and .

Chapter 2 - 20
Polynomials

Solution Let
Since are divisible both by and ,
and
From

From

Substitute into (1) :

Chapter 2 - 21
Polynomials

Given that is a factor of

Example 4
, find the values of and ..

Solution
Since , both and
are factors of .

Substitute into (1) :

Chapter 2 - 22
Polynomials

Example 5 Find a cubic polynomial such that ,

, .
Solution
has a factor
Since is a cubic polynomial,
Let
Since

Since

Substitute into (1) :

Classroom Practice 7
1. Determine which of the following are factors of .
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)
2. If is a factor of , find the value of .
Exercise 2.6
1. Find the value of if is divisible by .
2. Given that is a factor of , find the value of

Chapter 2 - 23
Polynomials

3. Find the value of if is divisible by

.
4. If is a factor of , find the value of .
5. For what values of and are and factors of
?
6. Find the values of and if is divisible
by both and .
7. Given that is a factor of , find the
values of and .
8. Find the values of and if is a factor of
.
9. If is divisible by , find the values of and
.
10. Find the value of such that is a factor of .
Find the remainder when the polynomial is divided by .
11. Given that has a factor and , when divided by
, a remainder of 21 is obtained. Find the values of and .
12. If is divisible by and when divided by
, a remainder of 9 is obtained. Find the values of and .
13. Determine whether is a factor of .
14. Find a polynomial of degree two such that .
15. Find a polynomial of degree three such that
,
16. Find a polynomial of degree four such that
.

2.7 Factorization of Polynomial with One Variable

Factorization is widely used in algebra. It is commonly applied in

simplifying algebraic expressions and solving equations. Generally, the
most commonly methods of factorization are:
(1) Extraction of Common Factor.

Chapter 2 - 24
Polynomials

(2) Cross Multiplication.

(3) Common Identities.
(4) Grouping.

(1) Factorization by Extraction of Common Factor.

If each of the terms in a polynomial has the same factor, then the
factor is known as its common factor. In factorizing a polynomial this
common factor is extracted as shown in the following examples.

Factorize
Example 1
Solution

Example 2 Factorize

Solution

Classroom Practice 8
Factorize each of the following expressions:
1.
2.
3.
(2) Factorization by Cross Multiplication.
Generally the method of cross multiplication is used to factorize a trinomial
with degree two.

Factorize
Example 3

Chapter 2 - 25
Polynomials

Solution 3x 5
x 3
5 x + (9 x) = 4 x

Classroom Practice 9
Factorize the following expressions:

1. 2.
3. 4.

(3) Factorization by Applying Common Identities.

The most commonly used identities are








Factorize
Example 4
Solution

Factorize
Example 5

Chapter 2 - 26
Polynomials

Solution

Factorize
Example 6
Solution

Factorize
Example 7
Solution

Factorize
Example 8
Solution

Factorize
Example 9
Solution

Factorize
Example 10

Chapter 2 - 27
Polynomials

Solution

Classroom Practice 10
Factorize the following expressions:
1. 2.
3. 4.

(4) Factorization by Grouping

In some cases, the previous methods described failed in factorizing a
polynomial with four terms, then try factorizing the polynomial by grouping.
Step 1 : Group two terms together so that we have two groups.
Step 2: Extract the common factor from each group.
Step 3: Extract the common binomial from the two groups.

Factorizing
Example 11
Solution (Step 1)
(Step 2)
(Step 3)

Chapter 2 - 28
Polynomials

Factorizing
Example 12
Solution (Step 1)
(Step 2)
(Step 3)
Factorizing
Example 13
Solution (Step 1)
(Step 2)
(Step 3)

Classroom Practice 11
Factorizing the following expressions:
1. 2.
3. 4.

Exercise 2.7a
Factorizing the following expressions:
1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7. 8.
9. 10.
11. 12.
13. 14.

Factorizing a Polynomial by Factor Theorem

Given that is polynomial with
integral coefficients, by the factor theorem:
1. If is a factor of , where is an integer, then must be
a factor of .

Chapter 2 - 29
Polynomials

2. If is a factor of , where and are integers, then

must be a factor of and must be a factor of .

Example 14 Factorize

Solution If is a factor of , then the possible factors of

are
Applying the method of synthetic division, we get is
factor of .

Example 15 Factorize
Solution If is a factor of , then the possible factors of
are
Applying the method of synthetic division, we get both
and are factors of .

1+2 -9 -2 + 8 1
+1 + 3 -6 -8
1+3 - 6 - 8 -1
-1 -2 + 8
1+2 -8

Example 16 Factorize

Solution If is a factor of , then the possible factors of

are

Applying the method of synthetic division, we get both

and are factor of .

Chapter 2 - 30
Polynomials

1 - 2 - 17 + 4 + 3 0 -3
- 3 + 15 + 6 - 30
1 -5 - 2 + 10 5
+5 + 0 - 10
1+0 - 2

Example 17 Factorize

Solution If is a factor of , then the possible factors of are

and that of are .
Thus the possible values of are

Applying the method of synthetic division, we obtain

12 + 4 - 3 - 1 1
2
+6 +5 +1
2 12 + 10 + 2
6+ 5 +1

Example 18 Factorize

Solution If is a factor of , then the possible factors

of are and that of are
. Thus the possible values of

Chapter 2 - 31
Polynomials

are

Applying the method of synthetic division, we obtain

6 + 5 + 3 - 3 -2 1
2
-3 -1-1+2
2 6+2 +2-4
2
3+1 +1-2 3
+2 +2+2
3 3+3+3
1+1+1

Classroom Practice 12
Factorize the following expressions:
1. 2.
3. 4.

Exercise 2.7b
Factorize the following expressions:
1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7. 8.
9. 10.
11. 12.

Chapter 2 - 32
Polynomials

2.8 Equation of higher degree with one variable

If an equation contains only one variable, and the degree of this variable
is greater than 2, then this equation is called an equation of higher degree.
For example, and are
equations of higher degree.
Although it is hard to solve the equation of higher degree, we can
always use factorization method to solve it. In other words, if we want to
solve an equation of higher degree, we need to use the Factor Theorem to
facilitate the factorization process.

Solve the equation

Example 1
Solution 1 + 5 + 1 - 11 + 4 1
- 1 + 6 + 7 -4
1 + 6 + 7 -4 -4
-4 -8+ 4
1 + 2 -1

Chapter 2 - 33
Polynomials

Solve the equation

Example 2
Solution 3 - 7 - 15 - 8 - 8 4
+ 12 + 20 + 20 + 8
3 + 5 + 5 + 2 2
3
- 2 - 2 - 2
3 3 + 3 + 3
1 + 1 + 1

Chapter 2 - 34
Polynomials

Sometimes the method of substitution can be applied in solving some

special cases of equations of higher degree as shown in the following
examples.
Solve the equation
Example 3
Solution Let , substitute this into the original equation,
we get

Therefore the solutions for the original equation are

Example 4 Solve the equation

Solution Let , then the given equation becomes

Chapter 2 - 35
Polynomials

The required solution is .

Solve the equation

Example 5
Solution The given equation can be written as

Let , then the above equation becomes

Chapter 2 - 36
Polynomials

The solutions of the given equation are ,

Chapter 2 - 37
Polynomials

Classroom Practice 13
Solve the following equations:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Exercise 2.8
Solve the following equations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Miscellaneous Exercise 2
1. Determine whether the following expressions are polynomials.

Chapter 2 - 38
Polynomials

(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e)
2. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
3. Evaluate
(a)
(b)
(c)
4. Find the remainder when is divided by
5. Given that the remainder of on division by
is 10, find the value of .
6. Both and leaves the same remainder when
divided by , find the value of .
7. When is divided by and , the remainders are 3 and 5
respectively, find the remainder when is divided by
.
8. Given that is a factor of , find the
value of .
9. If is a factor of , find the value
of .
10. If are divisible by both and , find
the value of and .
11. If is divisible by , find the values of
and .

Chapter 2 - 39
Polynomials

12. If is divisible by and leaves a

remainder when divided by , find the values of and .
13. If leaves a remainder when divided by , find
the values of .

14. Prove that is factor of .

15. Prove that both and are factors of .

16. Factorize
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e) (f)
(g) (h)
(i) (j)

17. Solve the following equations:

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
18. Prove that is a factor of . Hence, solve
.

Chapter 2 - 40