1

When zeros arent real

You probably wont be surprised to learn that a zero of a
function is a domain or input value for which the function is
zero.
1. Graph the following polynomial functions. How many ze-
ros does each have?
(a) f(x) = 3x 2
(b) g(x) = 2x
2
4x
(c) h(x) = x
3
3x
2
13x + 15
(d) j(x) = 2x
7
4x
6
45x
5
+77x
4
+228x
3
196x
2
320x
2. For the polynomial functions of problem 1, what is the
pattern between the number of zeros and the degree of the The degree of a polynomial is the
highest exponent of all the terms
that have nonzero coecients.
function?
3. Now graph these functions, which are all related to func-
tions from problem 1. How many zeros do you see on each
graph?
(a) k(x) = 2x
2
4x 4
(b) l(x) = x
3
3x
2
13x 30
(c) m(x) = 2x
7
4x
6
45x
5
+ 77x
4
+ 228x
3
196x
2

320x 192
Although fewer zeros appear on the graphs in problem 3, there
are still as many zeros as you would think from the pattern in
problem 2. The missing zeros are complex numbers. You can also miss zeros if they
appear in a function more than
once. For example,
p(x) = x
3
(x 3)
2
seems to have
two zeros, 0 and 3. But 0 has
multiplicity 3, because the
associated factor of p, x 0,
appears 3 times. Similarly, 3 has
multiplicity 2 because the
associated factor appears 2 times.
4. Consider f(x) = x
3
1. You probably can tell right away
that 1 is a zero. But because the highest exponent on x is
3, there should be 3 solutions. Find the other two.
5. The function in problem 3b is l(x) = x
3
3x
2
13x 30.
(a) Find any real zeros of l.
(b) Find any complex zeros of l.
6. The function in problem 3c is m(x) = 2x
7
4x
6
45x
5
+
77x
4
+228x
3
196x
2
320x192. This function was chosen
so its real zeros are integers. Find all the zeros of m.
Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002 c EDC 2002
When zeros arent real: Hints 1
Hints
Hint to problem 4. The function can be factored: p(x) =
(x +a)(x
2
+bx +c). You can nd the value of a by considering
this: What is p(a)?
Complete the square or use the quadratic formula to nd the
complex roots.
Hint to problem 5. The real zero can be estimated from the
graph. Then check to see if your estimate is actually exact. Use
the same idea as in the hint to problem 4 to nd the complex
roots.
Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002 c EDC 2002
When zeros arent real: Answers 1
Answers
1. (a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 7
2. The number of zeros is the degree of the function.
3. (a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 5
4.
1i

3
2
5. (a) 6
(b)
3i

11
2
6. The real zeros are 4, 2, 2, 3, and 4. The complex zeros
are
1i
2
.
Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002 c EDC 2002
When zeros arent real: Solutions 1
Solutions
Solution to problems 1 and 3. Here is a sample graph for
each function.
f(x) = 3x 2
g(x) = 2x
2
4x k(x) = 2x
2
4x 4
h(x) = x
3
3x
2
13x + 15 l(x) = x
3
3x
2
13x 30
j(x) = 2x
7
4x
6
45x
5
+ m(x) = 2x
7
4x
6
45x
5
+
77x
4
+ 228x
3
196x
2
320x 77x
4
+ 228x
3
196x
2
320x 192
Solution to problem 4. Since 1 is a zero, x1 is a factor. So
p(x) = (x 1)(x
2
+ bx + c). There are many ways to nd the The long division algorithm,
applied to polynomials, is another
way to nd the second factor for
p(x).
values for b and c. One quick way is to recognize that, if you were
to expand the factored form and compare to x
3
1, c would
have to be 1. Also, x
2
would have to add with bx
2
to give 0.
Both b and c are 1, so the factored form is (x 1)(x
2
+ x + 1).
Complete the square or use the quadratic formula to nd the
complex roots:
1

1
2
4(1)(1)
2(1)
=
1

3
2
=
1i

3
2
.
Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002 c EDC 2002
When zeros arent real: Solutions 2
Solution to problem 5. On the graph of l, the real root seems
to be around 6. This can be veried, or one can just try to factor
the polynomial using x 6 as one factor: (x 6)(x
2
+ 3x + 5).
Then the complex zeros are
3

94(5)
2
=
3i

11
2
.
Solution to problem 6. Since the problem says the real roots
are integers, they can be read o the graph: 4, 2, 2, 3, and 4.
Then m(x) = (x +4)(x +2)(x 2)(x 3)(x 4)(ax
2
+bx +c).
Since the leading coecient is 2, a = 2. The product of the
constants is -192, so c = 1.
Finding b requires more algebra. The x
6
term is the sum of
all combinations that give 6 xs. Multiply the x terms from the
rst ve (linear) factors, and the last factor must supply the bx
term to give 6 xs. The c term will not contribute to the x
6
term, since the best it can do in terms of xs is x
5
(multiplied
by all ve of the x terms in the linear factors.
The ax
2
term must be multiplied by the x of 4 of the linear
factors and then the remaining constant. This gives 4x
4
, 2x
4
,
2x
4
, 3x
4
, and 4x
4
, all to be multiplied by ax
2
. The sum
of these products, along with bx
6
, is (3a + b)x
6
. Since the
coecient of the x
6
term must be 4 and a = 2, this gives
3(2) + b = 4, so b must be 2.
Now m(x) = (x+4)(x+2)(x2)(x3)(x4)(2x
2
+2x+1).
(This can be expanded to verify equivalence of all the coe-
cients.) So the complex roots are
2

2
2
4(2)
2(2)
=
22i
4
=
1i
2
.
Problems with a Point: June 17, 2002 c EDC 2002