4.

3 Finding Real Roots

Polynomials with degree =n have exactly n zeros.

How to find possible factors

For 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑎0 𝑥 𝑛 + 𝑎1 𝑥 𝑛−1 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑥1 + 𝑎𝑛 , the Rational Root Theorem says that
𝑝
if p is a factor of an and q is a factor of a0, then a rational factor of the polynomial f(x) must be equivalent to 𝑞

Example:

𝑓(𝑥) = 2𝑥 3 − 11𝑥 2 + 12𝑥 + 9

The factors of p are: ± 1, ± 3, ± 9

The factors of q are: ± 1, ± 2
The real rational factors of 𝑓(𝑥) are amongst this list:

𝑝 1 3 9
: ± 1, ± , ± 3, ± , ± 9, ±
𝑞 2 2 2

Pick one to try:

3 2 -11 12 9
6 -15 -9
2 -5 -3 0

Since the remainder is zero, (x-3) is a factor. The depressed polynomial is 2𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 − 3

The depressed polynomial factors into (2𝑥 + 1 )(𝑥 − 3)

1
So, the factors of the polynomial are (𝑥 − 3), (𝑥 − 3), 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (𝑥 − 2)

Ex 1: List all possible rational roots of the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 2𝑥 3 − 11𝑥 2 + 12𝑥 + 9

Ex 2: List all possible rational roots of the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 3 − 9𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 105

Find all of the zeros of the polynomials.

Ex 3: 𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 − 25𝑥 + 21 Ex 4: 𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 − 2

Ex 5: 𝑥 3 − 5𝑥 2 − 22𝑥 + 56 Ex 6: 2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥 2 − 8𝑥 + 28