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October 23rd, 2008, 07:32 AM
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| |  Polynomial help?
Hey! Im going through some polynomial questions as revision but i've come across one that's stumped me. I've tried it over and over but just can't see where i'm going wrong. The question is as follows: The polynomial: f(x)= px^3 - x^2 + qx - 6 has x-3 as a factor. When f(x) is divided by x-2, the remainder in -20. (a) Show that p=2 and find the value of q (b) Factorise f(x) For the first part i've come out with p=2, which is right, and q=-13. However, this doesn't factorise well in the second part. Any help would be great! Thanks for reading!  |
October 23rd, 2008, 08:06 AM
|  | He's dead, Jim | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Big Stone Gap, Virginia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kim_lloyd25  Hey! Im going through some polynomial questions as revision but i've come across one that's stumped me. I've tried it over and over but just can't see where i'm going wrong. The question is as follows: The polynomial: f(x)= px^3 - x^2 + qx - 6 has x-3 as a factor. When f(x) is divided by x-2, the remainder in -20. (a) Show that p=2 and find the value of q (b) Factorise f(x) For the first part i've come out with p=2, which is right, and q=-13. However, this doesn't factorise well in the second part. Any help would be great! Thanks for reading! | Everything looks good to me. After dividing by (x-3), you're left with  , which factors into 
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