gah! polynomials! (1 Viewer)

Grey Council

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from the fitzpatrick book

solve the equation 6x^4 - 11x^3 -26x^2 + 22x + 24 = 0 given that the product of two of the roots is equal to the product of the other two

am completely stuck.

i'm getting fed up with polynomials. I can't do the fitzpatrick questions. :-\

is this the general level of 3u questions?

and help with that one, ta
 

grimreaper

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I've never seen a question that hard on a 3u paper... I'd have a go if I had the time :)
 

CrashOveride

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Grey Council said:
from the fitzpatrick book

solve the equation 6x^4 - 11x^3 -26x^2 + 22x + 24 = 0 given that the product of two of the roots is equal to the product of the other two

am completely stuck.

i'm getting fed up with polynomials. I can't do the fitzpatrick questions. :-\

is this the general level of 3u questions?

and help with that one, ta
I get:

1 + sqrt[3]
1 - sqrt[3]
1+1/3
-1.5
 

CrashOveride

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This also is much more home with 4unit, not 3unit. Wogboy once you reply, can you check out the PM i just sent you, thnx :)
 

wogboy

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Let the roots be a,b,c,d, and suppose ab = cd.

abcd = 4 (product of roots)
-> (ab)^2 = (cd)^2 = 4
-> ab = cd = +- 2

a + b + c + d = 11/6 (sum of roots)
-> a + b + (ab)/d + (ab)/c = 11/6
-> acd + bcd + abc + abd = (11/6)*cd
-> (-11/3) = (11/6)*cd
-> cd = -2
-> ab = cd = -2 (discounting the possibility that ab = cd = 2)

now ab + ac + ad + bc + bd + cd = -13/3
-> 2*ab + ac + ad + bc + bd = -13/3
-> ac + ad + bc + bd = -1/3
-> (a+b)*(c+d) = -1/3 ...(A)
but remember (a+b) + (c+d) = 11/6 ... (B)
-> (a+b) - 1/(3*(a+b)) = 11/6 (can do the above since we know from (A) that (a + b) =/= 0)
-> (a+b)^2 - (11/6)*(a+b) - 1/3 = 0
-> 6*(a+b)^2 - 11*(a+b) - 2 = 0
-> (a+b) = (11 +- 13)/12 = -1/6 or 2
using a similar argument from (B),
-> (c+d) = -1/6 or 2

obviously (a + b) =/= (c + d) (if that was true, then a+b = c+d = -1/3 or 4 =/= 11/6)

so let's choose (a+b) = 2, (c+d) = -1/6 (we can do this arbitrarily, we could also chose in the other way round. It doesn't change the actual roots of the polynomial, it only changes which root we assign to a,b,c,d). Then we have:

a + b = 2 AND ab = -2 ...(C)
-> a - 2/a = 2
-> a^2 - 2a - 2 = 0
-> a = (2 +- sqrt(12))/2 = 1 +- sqrt(3)
and similarly b = 1 +- sqrt(3)
but it's obvious that a =/= b from part (C)
so we can arbitrarily choose a = 1 + sqrt(3) and b = 1 - sqrt(3) (choosing a and b the other way round is perfectly acceptable too)

c + d = -1/6 and cd = -2 ...(D)
-> c - 2/c = -1/6
-> c^2 + c/6 - 2 = 0
-> 6c^2 + c - 12 = 0
-> c = (-1 +- 17)/12 = 4/3 or -3/2.
so like before you can choose c = 4/3 and d = -3/2 or vice versa.

So the roots are 1 + sqrt(3), 1 - sqrt(3), 4/3, and -3/2. There's probably a better way to do it I can't think of.

CrashOveride said:
I get:

1 + sqrt[3]
1 - sqrt[3]
1+1/3
-1.5
How did you get the solution so quick?
 

Estel

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For a q. of that sort I think using an approximation method to find one of the two rational roots and then dealing with the resultant basic polynomial would be an easier option.

wogboy: ever heard of the wonder that is the graphing calculator? :p
 

CrashOveride

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wogboy said:
How did you get the solution so quick?
If you had only put the answers up, I would ask the same thing :uhhuh:

More or less, i followed your line.
 

Grey Council

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fair enough. Thanks for typing that up Wogboy. ^_^

on a side note, which book deals with the 3u part of polynomials in a fair bit?

the fitzpatrick goes to 4u stuff after around 12ish questions. :-S 12 out of around 30. hmph
 

CrashOveride

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Past papers. Polynomials don't seem to get tested so 'hardcore' in the 3unit exam it appears.
 

Grey Council

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ya, but that's only cause it's prolly not appeared in the HSC before (harder polynomials).

What's to say it can't?

hang on, i'd better check the syllabus. :-\

Maths Syllabus said:
The relation between the coefficients and the roots (if they exist) of the
quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 should now be derived using the
identity
ax2 + bx + c = a(x – a) (x – ß).
The corresponding relations for cubic equations should also be derived and
the general result indicated. Particular examples should not involve
polynomial equations of degree above four.
hmmm
 
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Grey Council

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hrm, i'll wait till CM_Tutor gets back ,then i'll confirm with him.
 

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