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What is a polynomial function in standard form with zeroes 1, 2, -2. and -3

A. x^4 + 2x^3 + 7x^2 - 8x + 12
B. x^4 + 2x^3 - 7x^2 - 8x + 12
C. x^4 + 2x^3 - 7x^2 + 8x + 12
D. x^4 + 2x^3 + 7x^2 + 8x + 12

1 Answer

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A polynomial with the given zeros can be represented as
f(x) = (x-1)(x-2)(x+2)(x+3).
Note that if you set f(x) = 0, then 1,2,-2, and -3 certainly are the solutions. From here, we simply multiply/expand out the polynomial. We can do this in a variety of ways, one of which is taking the left two and right two products separately. We have
(x-1)(x-2) = x^2 - 3x + 2
and
(x+2)(x+3) = x^2 + 5x + 6.
This gives that
f(x) = (x^2 - 3x + 2) (x^2 + 5x + 6).
Expanding this expression out then gives us our answer as
f(x) = x^4 + 2x^3 - 7x^2 - 8x + 12
or answer choice B.
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