Question

If P(x)=x^4 - 3x^2 + 7x + 8, use synthetic substitution to find: x = -3

a. -6
b. 0
c. -4
d. 5

Answer 1

Using synthetic substitution to evaluate P(-3) for P(x)=x^4 - 3x^2 + 7x + 8, we find that P(-3) equals 51, which is not one of the provided options.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the value of P(x) when x = -3 using synthetic substitution, we need to evaluate P(-3). The function P(x) given is P(x)=x^4 - 3x^2 + 7x + 8. Here are the steps for synthetic substitution:

Write down the coefficients of the polynomial: 1 (for x^4), 0 (since x^3 is missing), -3 (for x^2), 7 (for x), and 8 (constant term).So, we get the final result: 1 -3 9 43 51. Therefore, P(-3) is 51, which means the correct answer is none of the options provided.