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MaxWong

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MaxWong  13 ene 2019
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I assume you mean 3x3 and not 3x2, because it is impractical to write polynomials in an un-simplified way. (I hope you understand what I meant, my English is not that good)

 

We state the factor theorem as follows:

Let p(x) be a polynomial. If p(x) is divisible by xk, then p(k)=0.

This is a well-known result in algebra. We prove it using division algorithm: Suppose that when p(x) is divided by x - k, the quotient is q(x) and the remainder is r. (The remainder is a constant because it must have lower degree than the divisor x - k.) By division algorithm, we must have p(x)=(xk)q(x)+r, substituting x = k gives r=p(k)+0q(k)=p(k). Therefore the factor theorem is equivalent to saying "If p(x) is divisible by x - k, then the remainder is 0 when p(x) is divided by by x - k", which is obviously true.

 

We can use this result to solve the problem. From the factor theorem, we know that f(3)=0. Then, substituting x = 3 into the definition of f(x) gives 3k87=0, which gives k = 29. 

 

Suppose f(x)=(x3)(ax2+bx+c). Then ax3+(b3a)x2+(c3b)x3c=3x220x2+29x+12. Comparing coefficients gives a=3,b=11,c=4. Then we have f(x)=(x3)(3x211x4). Factorizing the quadratic part further, we have f(x)=(x3)(3x+1)(x4).

 

For the bonus part, simple inspection gives the roots x = 3, x = 4, and x = -1/3.

1 may 2024