A Guide to Multiplicity

This guide will help you make sense of the multiplicity of the factors of a polynomial.

Say we have the function = ( 3)4 ( + 2)2 ( 1)3 ( + 5). In this case, theres no need to get into synthetic division as the function has already factored for us. We will have four roots. In order to know what the root will be, you would take that factor, set it equal to zero, and solve for . In this case, were just flipping the signs of our factor, so its not so bad. Our four roots are: = 3, 2, 1, 5.

Now is when get into slightly more complicated concepts. What is the degree of this function? Well, our first factor happens four times (i.e. the root = 3 happens four times), because it is to the fourth power. The next root happens twice, then the next one happens three times, and finally our last root only happens once. If you add these together, you see that we have 10 roots, so our degree is 10. This means both our arms will go in the same direction. None of the s have a negative, so since theyre all positive, our function is positive, and we see that its facing up. So to phrase it another way, we have: as , () and as , () .

How do the multiplicities actually affect our graph? Because the = 3 root has a multiplicity of 4, that means it will sit on the axis (4 is an even number), and it will spend a little bit of time there, since 4 is bigger than 2. = 2 will also sit on the axis (since the multiplicity, 2, is an even number), but will do it quickly. = 1 will pass through, but will take a second doing it (the multiplicity is 3), and = 5 will pass through quickly (multiplicity of 1). Graphing all of this, you should end up with a graph that looks like:

Lets try one more with some negatives: () = ( 3)5 ( + 2)4 ( + 3)2 ( + 1) Here, we see that we have a couple of negatives we need to contend with. Picture FOILing this entire thing out. For the first term, wouldnt you end up multiplying all the first terms of the factors together? Basically, for the first term, you would multiply the things I have bolded here: () = ( 3)5 ( + 2)4 ( + 3)2 ( + 1) But, the bolded things are raised to powers before they get multiplied, so essentially, to get that first term if I were to FOIL it all out, I would really be doing: ()5 ()4 ()2 (). If you think back to your even/odd function days, ()5 = 5 (it ends up being negative), and ()2 = 2 , the negatives get squared out. So, ()5 ()4 ()2 () = 10, so our function has to be facing down. So, before you decide which way it will be going, take all the first terms. If they are all positive like in the first example, no problem. If some of them are negative, look at the exponent and ask yourself if the negative will stay there to be a problem, or if it is going to get multiplied out and not affect the graph. These add up to a total of 10 roots, so the arms should go the same direction. Since it is negative, it will be facing down. As , () and as = , () .

Now, onto the roots. In order to actually get the roots, we take each factor and set it equal to zero, then solve for . 3 = 0 = 3 + 2 = 0 = 2 + 3 = 0 = 3 + 1 = 0 = 1 The first root, the 3 has a multiplicity of 5, so it will pass through, but will have a fat butt as it goes. The = 2 has a multiplicity of 4, so it will sit on the graph and spend a little extra time there. The = 3 has a multiplicity of 2, so it will also sit on the graph, but it will do it quickly. And, = 1 has a multiplicity of 1, so it will quickly pass through the axis without wasting any time doing it. We end up with something like this:

With the axes of the first one, you cant really see whats going on around 1 through 3 so I zoomed in there to make it a little more apparent. You can see just the slightest of bumps leading up to = 2.