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2.7 Polynomial Functions

Course DP IB Maths
Section 2. Functions
Topic 2.7 Polynomial Functions
Difficulty Hard

Time allowed: 80

Score: /66

Percentage: /100

Page 1 of 9

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Question 1a
Consider the function f (x ) = 3x 3 + px 2 + 22x + q , where p and q are constants. It is given that (x 2 − x + 6) is a factor of
f (x ) .
(a)
Find the values of p and q .
[4 marks]

Question 1b
(b)
Find the roots of f (x ) .
[3 marks]

Question 2a
3
is a zero of the function f (x ) = 4x 3 − 19x 2 + kx − 12, where k is a constant.
4
(a)
As well as finding the value of k , find all the solutions to the equation f (x ) = 0 .
[5 marks]

Page 2 of 9

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Question 2b
(b)
Sketch the graph of y = f (x ) .
[3 marks]

Question 2c
⎛ 7 125 ⎞⎟
The point ⎜⎜ , ⎟ is a turning point on the graph y = f (x ) .
⎝ 6 108 ⎠
(c)
Given that f (x ) = p has three distinct real solutions, where p is a real constant, find the set of possible values of p .
[2 marks]

Page 3 of 9

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Question 3a
The graph of y = f (x ) is shown below, where f (x ) is a polynomial function. The graph passes through the points
A(−3,0) , B ( 2 ,0) and C(1, − 12) .
1

(a)
Given that the degree of f is as small as possible, find an equation for f (x ) .
[3 marks]

Question 3b
⎛k ⎞⎟
The graph is translated by the vector ⎜⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ to form the graph y = g (x ) , where k is a constant and g (x ) is a polynomial.
⎝0 ⎠
(b)
Given that is a factor of g (x ) , find the possible values of k .
[3 marks]

Page 4 of 9

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Question 4
Given that (x + 4) is a factor of the function f (x ) = px 3 + (5p + 1) x 2 + 5qx − 2q − 2 and that the remainder when f (x ) is
divided by (x + 1) is −12 , find the values of the constants p and q.
[6 marks]

Question 5
Show that 3x 3 + 16x 2 − 22x can be written in the form (3x + 1) ( ax 2 + bx + c) + d , where a, b , c and d are constants to be
found.
[4 marks]

Page 5 of 9

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Question 6
1 31
For the function f (x ) = (3x − 1) (x 2 + x − 1) ( ax 2 + bx + c) , the sum of the roots is and the product of the roots is − .
3 36
Find all five roots of f (x ) .
[6 marks]

Question 7
α and β are non-real solutions of the equation 2x 2 − (2k − 3) x + 2k = 0 .
9
Given that α2 + β 2 = and k ≠ 0 , find the value of k .
4
[6 marks]

Page 6 of 9

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Question 8
The function f (x ) = x 2 − mx + 3m − 4 has two integer solutions, one of which is double the other one.
Find the value of m .
[6 marks]

Question 9a
Consider the function f (x ) = px 6 + qx 4 + rx 2 + 1 , where p , q and r are real constants.
(a)
Show that if α is a zero of f (x ) then −α is also a zero.
[2 marks]

Page 7 of 9

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Question 9b
(b)
Given that 5 and −7 − 6i are roots of the equation f (x ) = 0 , find the value of p .
[4 marks]

Question 10a
Let f be a polynomial defined by f (x ) = 8x 3 − 24x 2 − 72x + 385 .
(a)
Use algebra to show that:
(i)
(2x + 7) is a factor of f (x ) ,
(ii)
f (x ) = 0 has exactly one real root.
[6 marks]

Page 8 of 9

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Question 10b
Consider the function g defined by g (x ) = f (x ) + k , where k is a real constant.
(b)
Given that the equation g (x ) = 0 has exactly three real roots, find the set of possible values of k .
[3 marks]

Page 9 of 9

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