Saturday Online Class 5 (2nd class on Polynomials)

June 06, 2020

Division algorithm

First we shall discuss the division algorithm for polynomials, then the remainder theorem
and the factor theorem. Suppose I give you two polynomials, say a(x) = x − 3, and
b(x) = 2x3 + 4x2 + 5x − 1. What do we mean when we say divide b(x) by a(x)?
Suppose a, b are integers. When I say divide b by a, what do you do? You express b
as aq + r where q and r are integers, such that 0 ≤ r < |a|. Similarly, for polynomials,
when I say divide b(x) = 2x3 + 4x2 + 5x − 1. by a(x) = x − 3, I mean that express
b(x) = a(x)q(x)+r(x) where q(x) and r(x) are polynomials and 0 ≤ deg r(x) < deg a(x).
Following figure shows how to carry out this long division.

Division algorithm for integers: Given any two integers a, b where a 6= 0, there exist
unique integers q and r such that b = aq + r where 0 ≤ r < |a|.
Division algorithm for polynomials: Given any two polynomials a(x), b(x) where a(x)
is not the zero polynomial, there exist unique polynomials q(x) and r(x) such that b(x) =
a(x)q(x) + r(x) where 0 ≤ deg r(x) < deg a(x).
Remarks.
(i) In context of the above, we assume that degree of the zero polynomial is zero.
(ii) If b(x) = a(x)q(x) + r(x) where r(x) is the remainder, then deg b(x) = deg a(x) +
deg q(x).

Remainder theorem and factor theorem

What can you say about the remainder if a(x) is a linear polynomial (i.e. if deg a(x) = 1)?
The above theorem forces that deg r(x) must be zero, implying that r(x) must be a
constant polynomial.

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 What will be the remainder if you divide a polynomial p(x) by x − a? The above
discussion tells us that the remainder will be a constant, say r. So we can write p(x) =
(x − a)q(x) + r for some polynomial q(x) and some constant r. Putting x = a, we get
p(a) = 0 × q(a) + r =⇒ r = p(a).

Remainder Theorem. When we divide a polynomial p(x) by x − a, the remainder

we get is p(a).

Example: Find the remainder when the polynomial 2x3 + 4x2 + 5x − 1 is divided by x − 3.
Answer: Using the above theorem, the remainder should be the value of p(x) = 2x3 +
4x2 + 5x − 1 at x = 3, i.e. p(3) = 2 × 33 + 4 × 32 + 5 × 3 − 1 = 104.
Recall, we say that ‘x = a is a zero of the polynomial p(x)’ or ‘a root of the equation
p(x) = 0’ if the value of the polynomial at x = a is zero, i.e. if p(a) = 0. For example,
the zeros of the polynomial x2 − 4 are ±2.
According to the remainder theorem, we can write any polynomial p(x) as p(x) =
(x − a)q(x) + p(a). Therefore, if p(a) = 0 then (x − a) will be a factor of p(x), i.e.
p(x) = (x − a)q(x) for some polynomial q(x).

Factor Theorem. If p(a) = 0 then (x − a) will be a factor of p(x), i.e. p(x) =

(x − a)q(x) for some polynomial q(x).

Next let us solve a few problems involving the concepts above.

Problem 1. If x = 2 is a root of the equation mx3 − 12x2 + 10x − m = 0 then find

the other roots.

Since x = 2 is a root, we can put x = 2 in this equation to get the value of m.

(m × 23 − 12 × 22 + 10 × 2 − m = 0 =⇒ m = 4.) Therefore, our polynomial of interest
is p(x) = 4x3 − 12x2 + 10x − 4.
Applying the factor theorem, we know that x−2 will be a factor of p(x), i.e. p(x) = (x−
2)q(x) for some polynomial q(x). We have to find this q(x) using long division/vanishing
method. Performing that, we get 4x3 − 12x2 + 10x − 4 = (x − 2)(4x2 − 4x + 2).
Now the other roots of p(x) = 0 can be found from the equation 4x2 −4x+2 = 0. Using
√
2 √
the quadratic formula, x = −b± 2ab −4ac we find that the other roots are (1 ± −1)/2 =
(1 ± i)/2.

Problem 2. Suppose that f (x) is a polynomial that leaves a remainder of 1 when

divided by x − 1 and leaves a remainder of 4 when divided by x + 2. What is the
remainder when f (x) is divided by (x − 1)(x + 2)?

In view of the remainder theorem, we can say that the remainder obtained when f (x)
is divided x − 1 is f (1) and the remainder obtained when f (x) is divided by x + 2 is f (−2).
Hence we must have f (1) = 1 and f (−2) = 4 (according to the question).

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 Now we can assume that the remainder obtained when f (x) is divided by (x−1)(x+2)
is ax + b for some constants a and b. Then, f (x) = (x − 1)(x + 2)q(x) + (ax + b), for
every x. Putting x = 1 and x = −2, we get a pair of simultaneous equations for a and b,
which we can solve! Details are provided below.
Putting x = 1, we get f (1) = a × 1 + b, i.e. a + b = 1. Putting x = −2, we get
f (−2) = a × (−2) + b, i.e. −2a + b = 4.
Solving these two equations, viz. a + b = 1 and −2a + b = 4, we get a = −1, b = 2.
Therefore, the required remainder, ax + b, is −x + 2.
Wrong approach: We start with assuming that the remainder is r, so that f (x) =
(x − 1)(x + 2)q(x) + r. Now putting x = 1 you get r = f (1) = 1 and if you put x = −2,
you get r = f (−2) = 4. This is absurd! The fallacy here lies in the assumption that the
remainder must be a constant, r.
Moral: If we are dividing by a quadratic, we must start with the assumption that the
remainder is of the form ax + b. Note that we are not ruling out the possibility that the
remainder can be a constant – we are allowing a to be 0 here.

Problem 3. Suppose that p(x) is a polynomial with integer coefficients such that
p(a) = p(b) = p(c) = p(d) = 3. Where a, b, c, d are distinct integers. Show that it
is not possible to have p(n) = 5, for any integer n.

Consider the polynomial f (x) = p(x) − 3. Since a, b, c, d are zeros of this polynomial,
we can say that (x − a), (x − b), (x − c), (x − d) are factors of this polynomial f (x). Since
a, b, c, d are distinct, we can say that (x − a)(x − b)(x − c)(x − d) is a factor of f (x). So
we can assume that f (x) = (x − a)(x − b)(x − c)(x − d)q(x) for some polynomial q(x).
Let, if possible, p(n) = 5 for some integer n. Then, f (n) = 5 − 3 = 2. On the other
hand, f (n) = (n − a)(n − b)(n − c)(n − d)q(n). Combining these, we get

(n − a)(n − b)(n − c)(n − d)q(n) = 2.

Does this give any contradiction? If we can show that q(n) is an integer, then we get a
contradiction, because 2 can be written as the product of at most 3 distinct integers, while
there are at least 4 distinct integers in the LHS above (since a, b, c, d are distinct).
Now we shall argue why q(x) must be a polynomial with integer coefficients. Recall
that q(x) is the quotient when f (x) is divided by its factor (x − a)(x − b)(x − c)(x − d).
Since the leading coefficient of this divisor polynomial is 1 and since f (x) = p(x) − 3 has
integer coefficients, so it follows from our algorithm of long division that the quotient must
have integer coefficients.
Moral: If we divide a polynomial b(x) with integer coefficients by another polynomial
a(x) whose leading coefficient is 1, then the quotient ought to be a polynomial with integer
coefficients. Polynomials whose leading coefficient is 1 are called monic polynomials.

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Lets end today’s class by discussing two more problems from the last homework.

1. Prove that the equation (x − a)(x − b) + (x − b)(x − c) + (x − c)(x − a) = 0 has real

roots for any three real numbers a, b, c. Also show that the two roots are equal if and
only if a = b = c.
Solution: First simplify the equation to 3x2 −2(a+b+c)x+(ab+bc+ca) = 0. Now look
at its discriminant, which turns out to be D = B 2 −4AC = 4(a2 +b2 +c2 −ab−bc−ca) =
2((a − b)2 + (b − c)2 + (c − a)2 ). The conclusion follows from here.
2. Solve the equation (for real number x): (x2 + x − 2)3 + (2x2 − x − 1)3 = 27(x2 − 1)3 .
Solution: Factorize! x2 + x − 2 = (x − 1)(x + 2) and 2x2 − x − 1 = (x − 1)(2x + 1).
Thus, the given equation is equivalent to

(x − 1)3 (x + 2)3 + (x − 1)3 (2x + 1)3 = (x − 1)3 · 27(x + 1)3 .

Clearly, x = 1 is a root of the above equation (with multiplicity 3). The other roots
can be found from the following equation

(x + 2)3 + (2x + 1)3 = (3x + 3)3 .

Take a = x + 2, b = 2x + 1, then the above reads a3 + b3 = (a + b)3 , which implies

3ab(a + b) = 0, i.e. 3(x + 2)(2x + 1)(3x + 3) = 0 ⇐⇒ x = −2, −1/2, −1.
Therefore, the roots of the given equation are 1, 1, 1, −2, −1, −1/2.

Following problems shall be discussed in the next class.

1. Suppose that the roots of x2 + αx − a = 0 are β, γ, and the roots of x2 + βx − b = 0

are γ, α. If 2(a + b + c) = α2 + β 2 + γ 2 , then show that the roots of x2 + γx − c = 0
are α, β.
2. Let f (x) = x3 − 3x + b and g(x) = x2 + bx − 3. Find all possible values of the real
number b such that the equations f (x) = 0 and g(x) = 0 have a common root.
3. Let f (x) be a quadratic polynomial. Prove that there exists quadratic polynomials
g(x), h(x) such that f (x)f (x + 1) = g(h(x)).
Hint. Instead of starting with f (x) = ax2 + bx + c, start with f (x) = a(x − r)(x − s)
where r, s are the two zeros of f (x).
What does g(h(x)) mean? Suppose g(x) = x2 − x + 2, and h(x) = 2x + 1. Then
g(h(x)) = h(x)2 − h(x) + 2 = (2x + 1)2 − (2x + 1) + 2. Another way of thinking:
g(h(x)) = g(2x + 1) = (2x + 1)2 − (2x + 1) + 2.

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4. Consider the polynomial P (x) = x4 − 3x3 + mx2 + nx + 2 Suppose that when P (x) is
divided by x − 2, the remainder is 6 and when P (x) is divided by x − 1, the remainder
is 4. Determine m and n.
5. In an attempt to discover a formula for the Fibonacci numbers, Alex finds a cubic
polynomial h(x) such that h(1) = 1, h(2) = 1, h(3) = 2 and h(4) = 3. What is the
value of h(5)?