LESSON 5 - Remainder Theorem and Factor

Theorem
Or: how to avoid Polynomial Long Division when finding factors!! :p

MAIN LECTURE: -
Do you remember doing division in Arithmetic?

"7 divided by 2 equals 3 with a remainder of 1"

Each part of the division has names:

Which can be rewritten as a sum like this:

1. Polynomials
Polynomial is an expression containing more than 2 algebraic terms.

Well, we can also divide polynomials.

f(x) ÷ g(x) = q(x) with a remainder of r(x)

But it is better to write it as a sum like this:

I can show you this in an example using Polynomial Long Division:

Example: 2x2-5x-1 divided by x-3

 f(x) is 2x2-5x-1
 g(x) is x-3

After dividing we get the answer 2x+1, but there is a remainder of 2.

 q(x) is 2x+1
 r(x) is 2

In the style f(x) = g(x)·q(x) + r(x) we can write:

2x2-5x-1 = (x-3)(2x+1) + 2

But you need to know one more thing:

When you divide by a polynomial of degree 1 (such as "x-3") the remainder will have
degree 0 (in other words a constant, like "4").

And we are going to use that idea in the "Remainder Theorem":

2. The Remainder Theorem

When you divide a polynomial f(x) by x-c you get:

f(x) = (x-c)·q(x) + r(x)

But r(x) is simply the constant r (remember? when you divide by (x-c) the remainder is a
constant) .... so we get this:
f(x) = (x-c)·q(x) + r

Now see what happens when you have x equal to c:

f(c) = (c-c)·q(c) + r

f(c) = (0)·q(c) + r

f(c) = r

So we get this:

The Remainder Theorem:

When you divide a polynomial f(x) by x-c the remainder r will be f(c)

So if you want to know the remainder after dividing by x-c you don't need to do any
division:

Just calculate f(c).

Let us see that in practice:

Example: 2x2-5x-1 divided by x-3

(Continuing our example from above)

We don't need to divide by (x-3) ... just calculate f(3):

2(3)2-5(3)-1 = 2x9-5x3-1 = 18-15-1 = 2

And that is the remainder we got from our calculations above.

We didn't need to do Long Division at all!

Example: Dividing by x-4

(Continuing our examplee)

What would the remainder be if we divided by "x-4" ?

"c" is 4, so let us check f(4):

2(4)2-5(4)-1 = 2x16-5x4-1 = 32-20-1 = 11

Once again ... We didn't need to do Long Division to find it.

3. The Factor Theorem

Now ...

What if you calculated f(c) and it was 0?

... that means the remainder is 0, and ...

... (x-c) must be a factor of the polynomial!

Example: x2-3x-4

f(4) = (4)2-3(4)-4 = 16-12-4 = 0

so (x-4) must be a factor of x2-3x-4

And so we have:

The Factor Theorem:

When f(c)=0 then x-c is a factor of the polynomial

And the other way around, too:

When x-c is a factor of the polynomial then f(c)=0

4. Why Is This Useful?

Knowing that x-c is a factor is the same as knowing that c is a root (and vice versa).

The factor "x-c" and the root "c" are the same thing

Know one and you know the other

For one thing, it means that you can quickly check if (x-c) is a factor of the polynomial.

Example: 2x3-x2-7x+2

The polynomial is degree 3, and could be difficult to solve. So let us plot it first:
The curve crosses the x-axis at three points, and one of them might be at 2. We can
check easily:

f(2) = 2(2)3-(2)2-7(2)+2 = 16-4-14+2 = 0

Yes! f(2)=0, so we have found a root and a factor.

So (x-2) must be a factor of 2x3-x2-7x+2

How about where it crosses near -1.8?

f(-1.8) = 2(-1.8)3-(-1.8)2-7(-1.8)+2 = -11.664-3.24+12.6+2 = -0.304

No. (x+1.8) is not a factor.

QUESTION/ANSWER SESSION

Q1. What is the remainder when 5x2 + 3x - 7 is divided by x + 9 ?

Ans: 371

Explanation:
The remainder Theorem states:
When you divide a polynomial f(x) by x - c the remainder r will be f(c)

In this case f(x) = 5x2 + 3x - 7 and c = -9 because x + 9 = x - (-9)

Therefore r = f(-9) = 5 × (-9)2 + 3 × (-9) - 7 = 405 - 27 - 7 = 371

Q2. Which of the following is a factor of 2x3 - x2 - 21x + 18 ?

a) x - 1
b) x - 2
c) x - 3
d) x - 4

Ans : x-3

Expl :
The Factor Theorem states:
When f(c)= 0, then x - c is a factor of the polynomial f(x)

In this case f(x) = 2x3 - x2 - 21x + 18

Therefore:
f(1) = 2 × 13 - 12 - 21 × 1 + 18 = 2 - 1 - 21 + 18 = -2
⇒ (x - 1) is not a factor of f(x)
f(2) = 2 × 23 - 22 - 21 × 2 + 18 = 16 - 4 - 42 + 18 = -12
⇒ (x - 2) is not a factor of f(x)
f(3) = 2 × 33 - 32 - 21 × 3 + 18 = 54 - 9 - 63 + 18 = 0
⇒ (x - 3) is a factor of f(x)
f(4) = 2 × 43 - 42 - 21 × 4 + 18 = 128 - 16 - 84 + 18 = 46
⇒ (x - 4) is not a factor of f(x)
Q3. Which of the following is a root of 3x4 + 6x3 - 4x2 - 6x + 4 ?

a) 0
b) 1
c) -1
d) -2

Ans : -2

Expl:
The Factor Theorem states:
When f(c)= 0, then x - c is a factor of the polynomial f(x)
This also means that c is a root of f(x)

In this case f(x) = 3x4 + 6x3 - 4x2 - 6x + 4

Therefore:
f(0) = 3 × 04 + 6 × 03 -  4 × 02 - 6 × 0 - 4 = 0 + 0 - 0  - 0 + 4 = 4
⇒ 0 is not a root of f(x)
f(1) = 3 × 14 + 6 × 13 - 4 × 12 - 6 × 1 + 4 = 3 + 6 - 4 - 6 + 4 = 3
⇒ 1 is not a root of f(x)
f(-1) = 3 × (-1)4 + 6 × (-1)3 - 4 × (-1)2 - 6 × (-1) + 4 = 3 - 6 - 4 + 6 + 4
=3
⇒ -1 is not a root of f(x)
f(-2) = 3 × (-2)4 + 6 × (-2)3 - 4 × (-2)2 - 6 × (-2) + 4
= 48 - 48 - 16 + 12 + 4
=0
⇒ -2  is a root of f(x)