Roots of Higher Degree Polynomial Equations
We know that the equation P(x) = 0 is called a polynomial equation. The root or zero of a
polynomial equation and the solution of the corresponding polynomial equation
are the same. So we use both the terminologies.
We know that it is easy to verify whether a number is a root of
a polynomial equation or not, just by substitution. But when finding the roots,
the problem is simple if the equation is quadratic and it is in general not so
easy for a polynomial equation of higher degree.
A solution of a polynomial equation written only using its
coefficients, the four basic arithmetic operators (addition, multiplication,
subtraction and division), and rational exponentiation (power to a rational
number, such as square, cube, square roots, cube roots and so on) is called a radical solution. Abel proved that it
is impossible to write a radical solution for general polynomial equation of
degree five or more.
We state a few results about polynomial equations that are
useful in solving higher degree polynomial equations.
·
Every polynomial in one variable is a continuous function from
R to R .
·
For a polynomial equation P(x) = 0 of even degree, P(x) →∞ as P(x) →±∞. Thus the graph of an even degree polynomial start from left
top and ends at right top.
·
All results discussed on “graphing functions” in Volume I of
eleventh standard textbook can be applied to the graphs of polynomials. For
instance, a change in the constant term of a polynomial moves its graph up or
down only.
·
Every polynomial is differentiable any number of times.
·
The real roots of a polynomial equation P ( x) = 0 are the points on
the x -axis where the graph of P ( x) = 0 cuts the x -axis.
·
If a and b are two real numbers such that P (a) and P (b) are of opposite
signs, then
- there is a point c on the real line for which P (c) = 0 .
- that is, there is a root between a and b .
- it is not necessary that there is only one root between such
points; there may be 3, 5, 7,... roots; that is the number of real roots
between a and b is odd and not even.
However, if some information about the roots are known, then we
can try to find the other roots. For instance, if it is known that two of the
roots of a polynomial equation of degree 6 with rational coefficients are 2 + 3i and 4 -
√5 then we can
immediately conclude that 2 - 3i and 4 + √5 are also roots of the
polynomial equation. So dividing by the corresponding factors, we can reduce
the problems into a problem of solving a second degree equation. In this
section we learn some ways of finding roots of higher degree polynomials when
we have some information.
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