Factor Theorem

 Let f ( x) be a polynomial .
f (a)  0 if and only if ( x  a) is a factor of f ( x) .

 Let f ( x) be a polynomial .
b
If f ( )  0 if and only if (ax  b) is a factor of f ( x) .
a

Remainder Theorem
b
If a polynomial f ( x) is divided by (ax  b) , the remainder is f ( ).
a

Exam Practice
1. f ( x)  2 x3  7 x 2  10 x  24
(a) Show that ( x  2) is a factor of f ( x) . (b) Hence factorise f ( x) .

2. f ( x)  x3  8 x 2  17 x  16
(a) Show that f ( x)  ( x  5) has a remainder of 6.
(b) Find the quotient of f ( x)  ( x  5).

3. f ( x)  3x3  13x 2  6 x  8

(a) Show that ( x  4) is a factor of f ( x) . (b) Hence factorise f ( x) completely.

4. Factorise completely 2 x3  7 x 2  5 x  4 .

5. f ( x)  x 4  5 x3  px  q
where p and q are integers.

(a) the remainder when f ( x) is divided by ( x  2) is equal to the remainder when

f ( x) is divided by ( x  1) .Find the value of p.

(b) Given that ( x  3) is a factor of f ( x) , find the value of q .

6. f ( x)  x3  2 x  21

(a) Show that ( x  3) is a factor of f ( x) . (b) Solve f ( x)  0

 7. f ( x)  px3  6 x 2  12 x  q

Given that the remainder when f ( x) is divided by ( x  1) is equal to the remainder

when f ( x) is divided by (2 x  1) .Find the value of p.

8. f ( x)  x3  x 2  7 x  a where a is constant.

(a) Given that f (4)  0 , Find the value of a.

(b) Factorise f ( x)
as the product of a linear factor and a quadratic factor.

9. (a) Factorise completely g (x)  2 x3  x 2  4 x  3 . (b) Solve g ( x)  0

Past Papers
1. A curve has equation y  x3  2 x 2  11x  m where m is a positive integer. The curve
crosses the x-axis at the point with coordinates (4, 0) .Show that m = 12

(a) Factorize x3  2 x2  11x  m  0 completely.

The curve also crosses the x-axis at two other points.

(b) Write down the x-coordinate of each of these points.

2. f(x) = ax3 + bx2 + cx + d, where a, b, c and d are integers.

(a) Given that f(0) = 6,show that d = 6.

(b) When f(x) is divided by (x – 1) the remainder is – 6. When f(x) is
divided by (x + 1) the remainder is 12.Find the value of b.

(c) Given also that (x – 3) is a factor of f(x), find the value of a and the value of c,

express f(x) as a product of linear factors.

3. p(x) = 2x3 + 13x2 – 17x – 70

(a) Show that p(–2) = 0

(b) Solve the equation p(x) = 0.
4. f (x) = 2x3 – px2 – 13x – q. When f(x) is divided by (x – 2) the remainder is –20.

Given that (x – 3) is a factor of f(x)

(a) find the value of p and the value of q

(b) Hence use algebra to solve the equation f(x) = 0.

5. f (x)  x 3  7 x  6
(a) Show that ( x − 2) is a factor of f(x).
(b) Hence, or otherwise, factorise f(x) completely.

6. f ( x)  2 x3  3 px 2  x  4 p where p is an integer.
(a) Given that (x – 4) is a factor of f(x), show that the value of p is 3.

Using this value of p,

(b) find the remainder when f(x) is divided by (x + 2).

(c) factorise f(x) completely.

(d) solve the equation 2x3 – 3px2 + x + 4p = 0.

7. f ( x)  ax3  5bx 2  8ax  4b where a and b are integers.

Given that (x + 2) is a factor of f(x) and that when f(x) is divided by (x + 3)

the remainder is 21

(a) show that a = 2 and find the value of b.

(b) Use algebra to solve the equation f(x) = 0.