Philippine Academy of Sakya

High School Mathematics Department

HS Math 4 Advanced Algebra

Name:___________________________________________Date:_______________Score:__________ Section:____________________________ Parents signature:_____________________ Topic: Factor Theorem and its Converse, Rational Roots Theorem, Quadratic Surds Theorem <LECTURE NOTES and PROOFS> SW AS

Definitions: Let be a polynomial in the variable x. If r is a number such that , then we say that r is a root/zero of . is called a factor of if there exists a polynomial such that Factor Theorem: Let be a polynomial in the variable x. If c is a number such that , then is a factor of Proof: Write as , where is a polynomial, and R is a constant. If , then . Hence, , so that is a factor of Converse of the Factor Theorem: If is a factor of , then Proof: is a factor of means there exists a polynomial so that . Obviously, Note: If p and q are integers, with , such that they dont have any common prime factors, then , where m is any positive integer, is a fraction in lowest terms. Let be a polynomial in the

Rational Roots Theorem:

variable x with degree n, and ALL the coefficients are INTEGERS. If p and q are integers, with , such that is a fraction in lowest terms, then if , this implies that p is a factor of and also that q is a factor of , then since , so that p is a factor of . Otherwise, we then have , we now

Proof: If

. Multiplying BOTH sides by have

. Rearranging the terms, we will have (*). The left side of (*) is an INTEGER. Hence,

the right side must also be an INTEGER. This means that if since the prime factors of

, then p must be a factor of q. Similarly, since

p are not found in the prime factors of

, this means that q is a factor of Quadratic Surds Theorem: is a polynomial in the variable x is an irrational number

with degree n, and ALL the coefficients are RATIONAL NUMBERS. If and , then Proof: Firstly, note that integer odd. and if k is an odd integer,

is irrational, and if k is an even ,

is rational. Firstly, take n as an even integer. A similar argument will hold if n is

which can be written as , where M and H are rational numbers. will lead into a contradiction. Why ? Hence, we must have . But also:

Philippine Academy of Sakya

High School Mathematics Department

HS Math 4 Advanced Algebra

Name:___________________________________________Date:_______________Score:__________ Section:____________________________ Parents signature:_____________________ Topic: Factor Theorem and its Converse, Rational Roots Theorem, Quadratic Surds Theorem <LECTURE NOTES and PROOFS> SW AS

+ Multiplicity of a root: Let be a polynomial in the variable x. If r is a root of and k is the largest positive integer such that for some polynomial , then we say that r is a root of multiplicity k Imaginary Unit and Complex Numbers: The imaginary unit is denoted by i, and which has the property that . A complex number is any number of the form , where x and y are real numbers, and i is the imaginary unit. Fundamental Theorem of Algebra: Every non-constant polynomial with coefficients coming from the set of complex numbers has at least one complex number root. Lower Bound and Upper Bound for the real number roots of a polynomial: The number c is said to be a lower bound for the real number zeroes of a polynomial if for all , . On the other hand, c is an upper bound for the real number zeroes of all , if for

Tests for the Lower Bound and Upper Bound of zeroes of a polynomial: Let be a nonconstant polynomial. (i) If and in , where is a polynomial whose terms are arranged in decreasing powers of x, and R is a constant, the signs of the coefficients of up to R alternate from positive to negative, OR negative to positive (a zero coefficient can be regarded as either positive OR negative), then c is a lower bound for the real number zeroes of . (ii) If and in , where is a polynomial whose terms are arranged in decreasing powers of x, and R is a constant, the signs of the coefficients of up to R are ALL positive OR ALL negative, then c is an upper bound for the real number zeroes of . In both (i) and (ii), if , then we say that c is the greatest lower bound, and the least upper bound respectively of the real zeroes of q p Rule: Let be a polynomial in the variable x with INTEGER coefficients. Then if , and if , then is is

a fraction in lowest terms with p and q INTEGERS, AND a factor of Descartes Rule of Signs: Let

be a polynomial in the

variable x , where the terms are arranged in descending powers of x and ALL the coefficients are real numbers. If P is the number of sign variations in , then the number of positive real roots of is P or less than this by an even number. Similarly, let N be the number of sign variations in . Then the number of negative real roots of is N or less than this by an even number. Note: In applying Descartes Rule of Signs, a 0 coefficient can be taken as a positive or negative number. The real roots counted by Descartes Rule of Signs need not be distinct