The Student Room Group

Factor Theorem

I'll post the question below i thought it meant divide by (x-1) after i proved it 1 was a factor but i can't do it.
Thanks for any help
Reply 1
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Just substitute in 1 into the equation and if it equals to zero then that means (x-1) is a factor
There are 3 ways forward, one of which never seems to be used nowadays for some reason, so I'll not bother describing it even though it is absurdly easy!
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One is to perform the long division x-1) x^3 + 0x^2 - 7x +6 ,

The other is to do it by inspection (x-1)(ax^2 + bx + c)
Reply 4
Original post by sam72016
Just substitute in 1 into the equation and if it equals to zero then that means (x-1) is a factor

Yes I've done that its the second part that i don't understand
Reply 5
Original post by A0W0N
Yes I've done that its the second part that i don't understand


The correct explanation is to divide the cubic by (x-1). Really, you have a factor, then a simple inspection is enough
x^3 - 7x + 6 = (x-1)*quadratic
The quadratic and constant terms are obvious? Linear term isn't much more difficult.

Then factorize the quadratic, to get the two other solutions.
(edited 4 years ago)

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