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1.3 Division of Polynomial Functions

The document discusses polynomial division and related concepts. It introduces long division and synthetic division of polynomials, providing examples of each method. It also defines key terms like dividend, divisor, quotient, and remainder in the context of polynomial division.

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Amarachukwu Nnakenyi
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113 views

1.3 Division of Polynomial Functions

The document discusses polynomial division and related concepts. It introduces long division and synthetic division of polynomials, providing examples of each method. It also defines key terms like dividend, divisor, quotient, and remainder in the context of polynomial division.

Uploaded by

Amarachukwu Nnakenyi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

3 DIVISION OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS

Division

p r
q 15
s s 23 356
p is called dividend 23 dividend 356
s is called divisor 126 divisor 23
q is called quotient 115 quotient 15
11
r is called remainder remainder 11

356  2315 11

DIVISION OF POLYNOMIALS

The method for dividing two polynomials is similar to division of positive integers.

Division Algorithm

If f x and d x   0 are two polynomials, where the degree of f x is greater than or
equal to the degree of d x , then there exist unique polynomials qx  and r x  such that

f x  r x 
 qx   or f x  d xqx  r x
d x  d x 

where r x  has a degree less than the degree of d x .

f x is called dividend


d x is called divisor
qx  is called quotient
r x  is called remainder

If r x  0 then f x  d xqx so that the divisor is a factor of f x .


In other words, f x is divisible by d x , or d x divides evenly into f x .

1
Example: Divide the polynomial f ( x)  5 x 4  10 x 2  3x  2 by d ( x)  x 2  x  2 using
Long Division. (Henry Briggs 1597)
Important!: We observe that the term with x 3 is missing.
We replace the missing term using 0x3 .

5 x 2  5 x  25
f ( x)  5 x 4  0 x3  10 x 2  3x  2 is the dividend.
x  x2
2
5 x  0 x  10 x  3x  2
4 3 2
d ( x)  x 2  x  2 is the divisor.
5 x  5 x  10 x
4 3 2

 5 x3  20 x 2  3x
 5 x3  5 x 2  10 x 
25 x 2  7 x  2
25 x 2  25 x  50 q( x)  5 x 2  5 x  25 is the quotient.
 32 x  48 r ( x)  32 x  48 is the reminder.

The division can also be written in fraction form:


5 x 4  10 x 2  3x  2  32 x  48
 5 x 2  5 x  25 
x  x2
2
x2  x  2
The degree of the remainder r ( x)  32 x  48 is less than the degree of the divisor
d ( x)  x 2  x  2 .
Note: If the divisor is incomplete, you also need to complete the zero coefficients:
d  x   x 2  4 becomes d  x   x 2  0 x  4 .
Observation:
If the divisor d x is a linear polynomial x  c (with a degree of 1), then the degree of

r x  can only be zero  r is a constant (just a real number).


d x  x  c  f x  x  cqx  r

Remainder Theorem
If a polynomial f x is divided by a linear polynomial x  c , then the remainder r is:
r  f c  .

Example: Find r , the reminder, when f x   3x 2  7 x  1 is divided by the linear


polynomial d ( x)  x  3 .
We observe that c  3 .

f  3  3 3  7 3 1  3  9  211  27  22  5  r  5 .


2

We have an alternative way to calculate the reminder without doing the long division.
Task: Check using the long division that the reminder is indeed r  5 .

2
Synthetic Division of Polynomials (Chia Hsien 1010–1070, Paolo Ruffini 1809)
The synthetic division is a shortcut for dividing a polynomial f x by a linear
polynomial x  c .
When dividing using synthetic division we do not have to write down the various powers
of the variable x, but only the coefficients of these powers (including all zero
coefficients).
Synthetic Division Algorithm (Steps)
1. Write c followed by the coefficients of f x . Include all coefficients that are 0.
2. Bring down the first coefficient of f x to the third row.
3. Multiply this number by c and write the product directly under the second
coefficient of f x . Then add the two numbers in this column and write the sum
beneath them in the third row.
4. Multiply this sum by c and write the product in the second row of the next
column. Then add the two numbers in this column and write the sum beneath
them in the third row.
5. Repeat the step as many times as necessary.
6. The last number in the third row is the constant remainder r, the numbers
preceding it in the third row are the coefficients of qx  , the quotient polynomial
with degree n 1 .
Examples: 1. f  x   3x3  6 x 2  4 x  8 divided by d x   x  2
2 3 6 4 8
6 0 8
3 0 4 0  r
The coefficients of the quotient are the first three numbers in the third row, so
q  x   3x 2  0 x  4 or q  x   3x 2  4 , the remainder is the far right entry in the third
row, r  0 .
Because r  0 , we conclude that f ( x ) is divisible by d x   x  2 .
Important: We also notice that the degree of the quotient q ( x ) is smaller by one than
the degree of f ( x ) .

2. Use synthetic division: f  x   2 x 4  3x  4 divided by d  x   x  1.


Important: We replace all missing terms with their Zero coefficients.
f  x   2 x 4  0 x3  0 x 2  3x  4 and c  1 .
1 2 0 0 3 4
2 2 2 5
2 2 2 5 r 1
The quotient is q  x   2 x3  2 x 2  2 x  5 and the remainder is r  1 .
Because r  0 we conclude that f ( x ) is NOT divisible by d  x   x  1.

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