All about flooble | fun stuff | Get a free chatterbox | Free JavaScript | Avatars    
perplexus dot info

Home > Just Math
A Biquadratic Polynomial Problem (Posted on 2006-11-20) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Determine analytically if two of the roots of x4+12x-5=0 add up to 2.

See The Solution Submitted by K Sengupta    
Rating: 3.0000 (2 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
Solution Analytical Factoring Comment 3 of 3 |

Your first post doesn't show how you factored... it just appeared. Because having the roots makes the problem trivial, I think the point is to either assume two do add up to 2 and factor.

Here is my factoring solution:

Assume that two of the roots add up to 2. That means one equation is of the form (x^2-2x+a) and since the degree of x^3 is 0, the other term must be of the form (x^2+2x+b); also (a+b-4)x^2=0x^2 and 2xa-2xb=12, ie a+b=4, a-b=6, implying a=5 and b=-1. Since this checks with ab=-5, it means our assumption is true.

Another way to do it is by doing long division by (x^2-2x+a) to get a remainder of (-4a+20)x+(aČ-4a-5) Both of these must be equal to 0, and solving the first term gives a=5, which is a root of the second term.


  Posted by Gamer on 2006-11-21 00:20:32
Please log in:
Login:
Password:
Remember me:
Sign up! | Forgot password


Search:
Search body:
Forums (0)
Newest Problems
Random Problem
FAQ | About This Site
Site Statistics
New Comments (21)
Unsolved Problems
Top Rated Problems
This month's top
Most Commented On

Chatterbox:
Copyright © 2002 - 2024 by Animus Pactum Consulting. All rights reserved. Privacy Information