MATH001: Mathematics Ch.

3 - Polynomials

Chapter 3 – Exponents and Polynomials

The goal of this chapter is to introduce the handling of exponents and polynomials to you. After this
chapter, you should be able to:

manipulate the exponents in a formula.

describe an order n polynomial.
factorize a polynomial.
perform division over two polynomials.
use numeric method to find and verify roots of polynomials.
describe and use the remainder theorem and factor theorem.

1. Laws of Rational (有理)

有理) Indices
In the expression , is called the base and is called the index (or exponent 指數). is
the -th power of and is read as “ to the power ”.

√ Here denotes a positive integer.

√ Here and denotes positive integers.

1
MATH001: Mathematics Ch. 3 - Polynomials

2. Polynomial (多項式)
多項式) in One Variable

The general form of a polynomial in one variable, say , of degree is:

+ + ⋯+ + +

where is a non-negative integer and the coefficients , ,…, , are real numbers with
≠ 0.

- is the term in the polynomial with the highest degree. The last term is called the
constant term of the polynomial.
#
- For example, 3 −7 + 5 − 10 is a polynomial in of degree 3. The number -10 is the
constant term.

2.1. Arithmetic Operations on Polynomials

We may perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of polynomials. Addition,
subtraction or multiplication of polynomials results in a polynomial. However, division of
polynomials does not necessarily lead to a polynomial.

Example 1. Add '( − )*' + *( and '+ − ,'( + -.

Step 1: For each exponent , find the coefficients and add them together.

'( − )*' + *( '+ − ,'( + - Sum

'+ 0 1 1
,
' 0 0 0
'( 1 -3 -2
' -17 0 -17
constant 72 8 80

Step 2: Result is the sum of all terms.

The result is:'+ − ('( − )*' + -.

How do you define 7 / 2 in integers?

For 7 / 2, quotient is 3, and remainder is 1.

Rewriting it, we have: 7 2 3 + 1. We have the restriction that remainder (1) must be smaller
than divisor (2).

2
MATH001: Mathematics Ch. 3 - Polynomials

We can define polynomial division in similar way.

For 0 /2 , we can get quotient 3 and remainder 4 .

Rewriting it, we have 0 2 3 +4 , with the restriction that the order of 4

must be strictly smaller than the order of 2 .

Example 2. Divide '( − (' + , by ' − ).

−2 +3 −2 +1+2 −1 − 1 + 2
∴ the division result is that the quotient is − 1 and the remainder is 2.

Can we solve it more systematically?

How would you solve a division of integers by “long division”?

1 1 -2 3
1 -1
1 -1 2

Example 3. Divide ', − (' + , by ' − ( using long division.

2 1 0 -2 3
2 4 4
1 2 2 7

quotient is '( + (' + ( and remainder is 7.

3
MATH001: Mathematics Ch. 3 - Polynomials

3. Manipulation of Polynomials

In the previous class we discussed how to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
over two polynomials. For division, we may denote the result as quotients and remainders, or we
can represent the result as an algebraic fraction.

3.1. Algebraic Fractions

When an algebraic expression is written in the form of a fraction with polynomials in the numerator
and denominator, then the expression is called an algebraic fraction. For example,

+3 −9

−8

is an algebraic fraction if ≠ 8. This fraction can also be represented like this:

+3 −9 79
+ 11 +
−8 −8

where quotient is − 8 and remainder is 79.

3.2. Factorization
When a polynomial is expressed as a product of two or more polynomials, it is said to be resolved
into factors. The process of resolving a polynomial into factors is called factorization. The following
identities are important to the process of factorization.

1. − + −
2. + +2 +
3. − −2 +
# #
4. + + − +
# #
5. − − + +

As in solving quadratic equations, factorization helps us in solving higher-order equations. We use

different ways to find a few factors to the polynomial first, and then use some other standard
methods for solving the remaining parts. To solve 2 # − 6 + 8, if we know that − 2 is a factor
to this, we can work on the factorization and find that:
#
2 −6 +8 −2 2 −2 −4 2 −2 −2 +1
#
Thus, the roots for 2 −6 +8 0 are 2 (repeated) and -1.

4
MATH001: Mathematics Ch. 3 - Polynomials

3.3. Remainder Theorem

The theorem says that:

When a polynomial 0 is divided by − , the remainder R equals 0 .

E.g., by the theorem, if 0 + 3 − 9, the remainder of 0 / − 8 is 0 8 . From the

example of the previous parts, the remainder is 79. 0 8 8 +3 8 −9 64 + 24 − 9 79.

It is quite useful in checking whether your division is correct or not.

3.4. Factor Theorem

Factor theorem is a special case of remainder theorem. When 0 is divided by − , if the
remainder is 0, − is a factor of 0 . On the other hand,

If 0 is a polynomial and 0 0, then − is a factor of 0 .

This is a good method for us to check whether − is a factor for the polynomial or not. After
using this method to find one factor, we do the division and see if we can solve the quotient part.
; <
E.g., given 0 −2 +2 − 10 , is + 2 a factor?
; <
Since 0 −2 −4 −2 + 2 −2 − 10 −40 ≠ 0, + 2 is not a factor of 0 .

Moreover, by plotting the curve of 0 =, we may be able to find the other factors of 0 .

E.g.,

x -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

f(x) -65555 -12228 -1165 40 33 20 7 0 1205 12268 65595

0 leaves the zero line quickly on both sides, we don’t expect to have another factor for 0 .