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Descartes' Rule of
Necessary Preferences Show

Signs
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Descartes' Rule of Signs is a useful help for finding the

zeroes of a polynomial, assuming that you don't have
the graph to look at. This topic isn't so useful if you
have access to a graphing calculator because, rather
than having to do guess-n-check to find the zeroes
(using the Rational Roots Test, Descartes' Rule of
Signs, synthetic division, and other tools), you can just
look at the picture on the screen. But if you need to use
it, the Rule is actually quite simple.

Use Descartes' Rule of Signs to determine the

number of real zeroes of:

f (x) = x5 – x4 + 3x3 + 9x2 – x + 5

Descartes' Rule of Signs will not tell me where the

polynomial's zeroes are (I'll need to use the Rational
Roots Test and synthetic division, or draw a graph,
to actually find the roots), but the Rule will tell me
how many roots I can expect, and of which type.

Content Continues Below

MathHelp.com

First, I'll look at the polynomial as it stands, not

changing the sign on x. This is the positive-root
case:

f (x) = x5 – x4 + 3x3 + 9x2 – x + 5

Ignoring the actual values of the coefficients, I then

look at the signs on those coefficients:

f (x) = +x5 – x4 + 3x3 + 9x2 – x + 5

Starting out on this homework, I'll draw little lines

underneath to highlight where the signs change
from positive to negative or from negative to positive
from one term to the next. This isn't required, but it'll
help me keep track of things while I'm still learning.

Then I count the number of changes:

There are four sign changes in the positive-root

case. This number "four" is the maximum possible
number of positive zeroes (that is, all the positive x-
intercepts) for the polynomial f (x) = x5 – x4 + 3x3 +
9x2 – x + 5.

However, some of the A!liate

roots may be
generated by the Quadratic Formula, and these
pairs of roots may be complex and thus not
graphable as x-intercepts. Because of this
possibility, I have to count down by two's to find the
complete list of the possible number of zeroes. That
is, while there may be as many as four real zeroes,
there might also be only two positive real zeroes,
and there might also be zero (that is, there might be
none at all).

I've finished the positive-root case, so now I look at

f (–x). That is, having changed the sign on x, I'm
now doing the negative-root case:

f (–x) = (–x)5 – (–x)4 + 3(–x)3 + 9(–x)2 – (–x) + 5

= –x5 – x4 – 3x3 + 9x2 + x + 5

I look at the signs:

f (–x) = –x5 – x4 – 3x3 + 9x2 + x + 5

...and I count the number of sign changes:

There is only one sign change in this negative-root

case, so there is exactly one negative root. (In this
case, I don't try to count down by two's, because the
first subtraction would give me a negative number.)

There are 4, 2, or 0 positive roots, and exactly

1 negative root.

Some texts have you evaluate f (x) at x = 1 (for the

positive roots) and at x = –1 (for the negative roots), so
you would get the expressions "1 – 1 + 3 + 9 – 1 + 5"
and "–1 – 1 – 3 + 9 + 1 + 5", respectively. But you would
not simplify, and the numerical values would not be the
point; you would analyze only the signs, as shown
above.

Content Continues Below

Using Descartes' Rule of Signs, determine the

number of real solutions to:

4x7 + 3x6 + x5 + 2x4 – x3 + 9x2 + x + 1 = 0

I look first at the associated polynomial f (x); using

"+x", this is the positive-root case:

f (x) = +4x7 + 3x6 + x5 + 2x4 – x3 + 9x2 + x + 1

There are two sign changes, so there are two or,

counting down in pairs, zero positive solutions.

Now I look at the polynomial f (–x); using "–x", this is

the negative-root case:

f (–x) = 4(–x)7 + 3(–x)6 + (–x)5 + 2(–x)4 – (–x)3 +

9(–x)2 + (–x) + 1

= –4x7 + 3x6 – x5 + 2x4 + x3 + 9x2 – x + 1

There are five sign changes, so there are five or,

counting down in pairs, three or one negative
solutions. Then my answer is:

There are two or zero positive solutions, and

five, three, or one negative solutions.

In the above example,

A!liate
the maximum number of
positive solutions (two)
and the maximum number of negative solutions (five)
added up to the leading degree (seven). It will always
be true that the sum of the possible numbers of positive
and negative solutions will be equal to the degree of
the polynomial, or two less, or four less, or....

This can be helpful for checking your work. For

instance, if I had come up with a maximum answer of
"two" for the possible positive solutions in the above
example but had come up with only, say, "four" for the
possible negative solutions, then I would have known
that I had made a mistake somewhere, because 2 + 4
does not equal 7, or 5, or 3, or 1.

Use Descartes' Rule of Signs to find the number

of real roots of:

f (x) = x5 + 4x4 – 3x2 + x – 6

First, I look at the positive-root case, which is

looking at f (x):

f (x) = +x5 + 4x4 – 3x2 + x – 6

The signs flip three times, so there are three

positive roots, or one positive root. Either way, I
definitely have at least one positive real root.

Now I look at the negative-root case, which is

looking at f (–x):

f (–x) = (–x)5 + 4(–x)4 – 3(–x)2 + (–x) – 6

= –x5 + 4x4 – 3x2 – x – 6

The signs flip twice, so I have two negative roots, or

none at all. Then my answer is:

There are three positive roots, or one; there

are two negative roots, or none.

Use Descartes' Rule of Signs to find the number

of real roots of:

f (x) = x5 + x4 + 4x3 + 3x2 + x + 1

I look first at f (x):

f (x) = +x5 + x4 + 4x3 + 3x2 + x + 1

There are no sign changes, so there are zero

positive roots. Now I look at f (–x):

f (–x) = (–x)5 + (–x)4 + 4(–x)3 + 3(–x)2 + (–x) + 1

= –x5 + x4 – 4x3 + 3x2 – x + 1

There are five sign changes, so there are as many

as five negative roots. Then my answer is:

There are no positive roots, and there are

five, three, or one negative roots.

Use Descartes' Rule of Signs to determine the

possible number of solutions to the equation:

x3 + x2 – x – 1 = 0

I'll start with the positive-root case, evaluating the

associated functional statement:

f (x) = +x3 + x2 – x – 1

The signs change once, so this has exactly one

positive root. Now I'll check the negative-root case:

f (–x) = (–x)3 + (–x)2 – (–x) – 1

= –x3 + x2 + x – 1

The signs switch twice, so there are two negative

roots, or else none at all. Then my answer is:

There is exactly one positive root; there are

two negative roots, or else there are none.

Use Descartes' Rule of Signs to determine the

possible number of solutions to the equation:

2x4 – x3 + 4x2 – 5x + 3 = 0

I look first at f (x):

f (x) = +2x4 – x3 + 4x2 – 5x + 3

There are four sign changes, so there are 4, 2, or 0

positive roots. Now I look at f (–x):

f (–x) = 2(–x)4 – (–x)3 + 4(–x)2 – 5(–x) + 3

= +2x4 + x3 + 4x2 + 5x + 3

There are no sign changes, so there are no

negative roots. Then my answer is:

There are four, two, or zero positive roots,

and zero negative roots.

Descartes' Rule of Signs can be useful for helping you

figure out (if you don't have a graphing calculator that
can show you) where to look for the zeroes of a
polynomial. For instance, suppose the Rational Roots
Test gives you a long list of potential zeroes, you've
found one negative zero, and the Rule of Signs says
that there is at most one negative root. Then you know
that you've found every possible negative root (rational
or otherwise), so you should now start looking at
potential positive roots.

Similarly, if you've found, say, two positive solutions,

and the Rule of Signs says that you should have, say,
five or three or one positive solutions, then you know
that, since you've found two, there is at least one more
(to take you up to three), and maybe three more (to
take you up to five), so you should keep looking for a
positive solution.

By the way, in case you're wondering why Descartes'

Rule of Signs works, don't. The proof is long and
involved; you can study it after you've taken calculus
and proof theory and some other, more advanced,
classes. I found an interesting paper online (in Adobe
Acrobat format) that contains proofs of many aspects of
finding polynomial zeroes, and the section on the Rule
of Signs goes on for seven pages.

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