Question

Show that x +1 is a factor of f(x) =2x^3 +3x^2 - 5x - 6

Answer 1

Explanation:

To solve this, we can use polynomial long division.

Seeing the picture, we first divide x (the variable to the largest degree in x+1) from 2x³. We divide from 2x³ because that is the variable with the largest degree in the polynomial. That is equal to 2x², so we put that on top and subtract (x+1) * (2x²) from the polynomial. Then, we repeat the process, but with x² instead of 2x³, and again with -6x as the variable with the largest degree.