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Polynomial Long Division (page 2 of 3) Sections: Simplification and reduction, Polynomial long division If you're dividing a polynomial by something more complicated than just a simple monomial, then you'll need a different method for simplification. The method is called "long division", and works just like the long division you did back in elementary school, except that now you're dividing with variables.
Think back to when you were doing long division with plain old numbers. You would be given one number that you had to divide into another number. You set up the division symbol and inserted the numbers where they belonged, and then started making guesses. And you didn't guess the whole answer right away; instead, you started working on the "front" part of the number you were dividing. Copyright © Elizabeth Stapel 2006-2008 All Rights Reserved Long division for polynomials works in much the same way:
Then the solution is: x – 10 Since the remainder is zero (that is, since there isn't anything left over), the division came out "even". When you do regular division with numbers and the division comes out even, it means that the number you divided by is a factor of the number you're dividing (for instance, if you divide 50 by 10 it will come out even, because 10 is a factor of 50). In this case, you now know that x + 1 is a factor of x2 – 9x – 10, because the division came out even. << Previous Top | 1 | 2 | 3 | Return to Index Next >>
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Copyright © 2006-2008 Elizabeth Stapel | About | Terms of Use |
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