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Answer quickly please

which statement describes the graph of this polynomial function

f(x) = x^4 + x^3 -2x^2

Answer quickly please which statement describes the graph of this polynomial function-example-1
User Wolfie
by
6.5k points

2 Answers

3 votes

Answer: C just took the test :)

User Cosmoonot
by
6.1k points
4 votes

The correct answer is C.


You can tell this by factoring the equation to get the zeros. To start, pull out the greatest common factor.


f(x) = x^4 + x^3 - 2x^2


Since each term has at least x^2, we can factor it out.


f(x) = x^2(x^2 + x - 2)


Now we can factor the inside by looking for factors of the constant, which is 2, that add up to the coefficient of x. 2 and -1 both add up to 1 and multiply to -2. So, we place these two numbers in parenthesis with an x.


f(x) = x^2(x + 2)(x - 1)


Now we can also separate the x^2 into 2 x's.


f(x) = (x)(x)(x + 2)(x - 1)


To find the zeros, we need to set them all equal to 0


x = 0


x = 0


x + 2 = 0

x = -2


x - 1 = 0

x = 1


Since there are two 0's, we know the graph just touches there. Since there are 1 of the other two numbers, we know that it crosses there.

User Sebastian Brandes
by
7.2k points
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