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Synthetic Devision Root

The document provides a tutorial on synthetic division for polynomials with divisors that have a leading coefficient not equal to one, covering both linear and higher degree divisors. It includes detailed examples of dividing the polynomial P(x) = 2x^3 + 7x^2 + 2x - 8 by linear divisor D(x) = 3x + 7 and higher degree divisor D(x) = 3x^2 + 5x - 7. The document concludes with a rule of thumb for performing synthetic division in these cases.

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21 views2 pages

Synthetic Devision Root

The document provides a tutorial on synthetic division for polynomials with divisors that have a leading coefficient not equal to one, covering both linear and higher degree divisors. It includes detailed examples of dividing the polynomial P(x) = 2x^3 + 7x^2 + 2x - 8 by linear divisor D(x) = 3x + 7 and higher degree divisor D(x) = 3x^2 + 5x - 7. The document concludes with a rule of thumb for performing synthetic division in these cases.

Uploaded by

AshishYadav
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Glendale Community College Fall 2011 Tuesday, October 4

MAT 187 Precalculus


Walter A. Kehowski, Instr.

Synthetic Division for Divisors


with Leading Coefficient Not Equal to One

The following examples deal with divisors having leading coefficient not equal to 1. There
are two cases: linear divisors and divisors of higher degree.

Linear Divisors
Let’s consider dividing the polynomial

P (x) = 2x 3 + 7x 2 + 2x − 8

by the polynomial

D(x) = 3x + 7.

The idea is to divide by (3x + 7)/3 = x + 7/3 and then move the 3 over to the quotient.

−7/3 2 7 2 −8
−14/3 −49/9 217/27
2 7/3 −31/9 −1/27
and so
7 31 3x − 7 1
  
2
P (x) = 2x + x − −
3 9 3! 27
2
2x + (7/3)x − 31/9 1
= (3x − 7) −
3 27
2 2 7 31 1
 
= x + x− (3x − 7) − .
3 9 27 27
The quotient is Q(x) = (2/3)x 2 + (7/9)x − 31/27 and the remainder is R(x) = −1/27.

Divisors of Higher Degree


Let’s consider dividing the polynomial

P (x) = 2x 3 + 7x 2 + 2x − 8

by the polynomial

D(x) = 3x 2 + 5x − 7.

The idea is the same for linear divisors: the divisor must be adjusted so that the leading co-
efficient is 1 and then the quotient re-adjusted to restore the original divisor. Thus, we divide
D(x) by 3 to obtain the divisor
5 7
x2 + x −
3 3
Take only the negative of the lowest degree terms. The idea is to multiply each leading coeffi-
cient (doubly underlined below) by the two divisor terms and bring the resulting pair down one
row and right one column. Add with a carry down from the right. Repeat as necessary. Thus,

−5/3 7/3 2 7 2 −8
−10/3 14/3
11/3 20/3 −8
−55/9 77/9
5/9 5/9

and so we have
11 5 7 5 5
  
2
P (x) = 2x + x + x− + x+
3 3 3 ! 9 9
11 3x 2 + 5x − 7 5 5
 
= 2x + + x+
3 3 9 9
2x + 11/3 5 5
  
= 3x 2 + 5x − 7 + x +
3  9 9
2 11  2  5 5

= x+ 3x + 5x − 7 + x + .
3 9 9 9
The quotient is Q(x) = (2/3)x + 11/9 and the remainder is R(x) = (5/9)x + 5/9.

Rule of Thumb.

1. Divide D(x) by it’s leading coefficient LC.

2. Do synthetic division as usual, getting a quotient q(x) and remainder R(x).

3. Divide q(x) by LC, getting the actual quotient Q(x). Leave the remainder alone.

4. The quotient is Q(x), the remainder is R(x), and P (x) = D(x)Q(x) + R(x).

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