Polynomials - SAT Math

Card 0 of 20

Question

Subtract from .

Answer

Step 1: We need to read the question carefully. It says subtract from. When you see the word "from", you read the question right to left.

I am subtracting the left equation from the right equation.

Step 2: We need to write the equation on the right minus the equation of the left.

Step 3: Distribute the minus sign in front of the parentheses:

Step 4: Combine like terms:



Step 5: Put all the terms together, starting with highest degree. The degree of the terms is the exponent. Here, the highest degree is 2 and lowest is zero.

The final equation is

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Question

Given a♦b = (a+b)/(a-b) and b♦a = (b+a)/(b-a), which of the following statement(s) is(are) true:

I. a♦b = -(b♦a)

II. (a♦b)(b♦a) = (a♦b)2

III. a♦b + b♦a = 0

Answer

Notice that - (a-b) = b-a, so statement I & III are true after substituting the expression. Substitute the expression for statement II gives ((a+b)/(a-b))((a+b)/(b-a))=((a+b)(b+a))/((-1)(a-b)(a-b))=-1 〖(a+b)〗2/〖(a-b)〗2 =-((a+b)/(a-b))2 = -(a♦b)2 ≠ (a♦b)2

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Question

If a positive integer a is divided by 7, the remainder is 4. What is the remainder if 3_a_ + 5 is divided by 3?

Answer

The best way to solve this problem is to plug in an appropriate value for a. For example, plug-in 11 for a because 11 divided by 7 will give us a remainder of 4.

Then 3_a + 5_, where a = 11, gives us 38. Then 38 divided by 3 gives a remainder of 2.

The algebra method is as follows:

a divided by 7 gives us some positive integer b, with a remainder of 4.

Thus,

a / 7 = b 4/7

a / 7 = (7_b +_ 4) / 7

a = (7_b_ + 4)

then 3_a + 5 =_ 3 (7_b_ + 4) + 5

(3_a_+5)/3 = \[3(7_b_ + 4) + 5\] / 3

= (7_b_ + 4) + 5/3

The first half of this expression (7_b_ + 4) is a positive integer, but the second half of this expression (5/3) gives us a remainder of 2.

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Question

Polydivision1

Answer

Polydivision2

Polydivision4

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Question

Simplify:

Answer

Cancel by subtracting the exponents of like terms:

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Question

If 3 less than 15 is equal to 2x, then 24/x must be greater than

Answer

Set up an equation for the sentence: 15 – 3 = 2x and solve for x. X equals 6. If you plug in 6 for x in the expression 24/x, you get24/6 = 4. 4 is only choice greater than a.

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Question

By what expression can be multiplied to yield the product ?

Answer

Divide by by setting up a long division.

Divide the lead term of the dividend, , by that of the divisor, ; the result is

Enter that as the first term of the quotient. Multiply this by the divisor:

Subtract this from the dividend. This is shown in the figure below.

Division poly

Repeat the process with the new difference:

Division poly

Repeating:

Division poly

The quotient - and the correct response - is .

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Question

Divide by .

Answer

It is not necessary to work a long division if you recognize as the sum of two perfect cube expressions:

A sum of cubes can be factored according to the pattern

,

so, setting ,

Therefore,

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Question

What is a possible value for x in x2 – 12x + 36 = 0 ?

Answer

You need to factor to find the possible values for x. You need to fill in the blanks with two numbers with a sum of -12 and a product of 36. In both sets of parenthesis, you know you will be subtracting since a negative times a negative is a positive and a negative plus a negative is a negative

(x –__)(x –__).

You should realize that 6 fits into both blanks.

You must now set each set of parenthesis equal to 0.

x – 6 = 0; x – 6 = 0

Solve both equations: x = 6

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Question

If r and t are constants and x2 +rx +6=(x+2)(x+t), what is the value of r?

Answer

We first expand the right hand side as x2+2x+tx+2t and factor out the x terms to get x2+(2+t)x+2t. Next we set this equal to the original left hand side to get x2+rx +6=x2+(2+t)x+2t, and then we subtract x2 from each side to get rx +6=(2+t)x+2t. Since the coefficients of the x terms on each side must be equal, and the constant terms on each side must be equal, we find that r=2+t and 6=2t, so t is equal to 3 and r is equal to 5.

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Question

2x + 3y = 5a + 2b (1)

3x + 2y = 4a – b (2)

Express x2 – y2 in terms of a and b

Answer

Add the two equations together to yield 5x + 5y = 9a + b, then factor out 5 to get 5(x + y) = 9a + b; divide both sides by 5 to get x + y = (9a + b)/5; subtract the two equations to get x - y = -a - 3b. So, x2 – y2 = (x + y)(x – y) = (9a + b)/5 (–a – 3b) = (–\[(9a)\]2 – 28ab – \[(3b)\]2)/5

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Question

Let and be integers, such that . If and , then what is ?

Answer

We are told that x3 - y3 = 56. We can factor the left side of the equation using the formula for difference of cubes.

x3 - y3 = (x - y)(x2 + xy + y2) = 56

Since x - y = 2, we can substitute this value in for the factor x - y.

2(x2 + xy + y2) = 56

Divide both sides by 2.

x2 + xy + y2 = 28

Because we are trying to find x2 + y2, if we can get rid of xy, then we would have our answer.

We are told that 3xy = 24. If we divide both sides by 3, we see that xy = 8.

We can then substitute this value into the equation x2 + xy + y2 = 28.

x2 + 8 + y2 = 28

Subtract both sides by eight.

x2 + y2 = 20.

The answer is 20.

ALTERNATE SOLUTION:

We are told that x - y = 2 and 3xy = 24. This is a system of equations.

If we solve the first equation in terms of x, we can then substitute this into the second equation.

x - y = 2

Add y to both sides.

x = y + 2

Now we will substitute this value for x into the second equation.

3(y+2)(y) = 24

Now we can divide both sides by three.

(y+2)(y) = 8

Then we distribute.

y2 + 2y = 8

Subtract 8 from both sides.

y2 + 2y - 8 = 0

We need to factor this by thinking of two numbers that multiply to give -8 but add to give 2. These numbers are 4 and -2.

(y + 4)(y - 2) = 0

This means either y - 4 = 0, or y + 2 = 0

y = -4, or y = 2

Because x = y + 2, if y = -4, then x must be -2. Similarly, if y = 2, then x must be 4.

Let's see which combination of x and y will satisfy the final equation that we haven't used, x3 - y3 = 56.

If x = -2 and y = -4, then

(-2)3 - (-4)3 = -8 - (-64) = 56. So that means that x= -2 and y = -4 is a valid solution.

If x = 4 and y = 2, then

(4)3 - 23 = 64 - 8 = 56. So that means x = 4 and y = 2 is also a valid solution.

The final value we are asked to find is x2 + y2.

If x= -2 and y = -4, then x2 + y2 = (-2)2 + (-4)2 = 4 + 16 = 20.

If x = 4 and y = 2, then x2 + y2 = (4)2 + 22 = 16 + 4 = 20.

Thus, no matter which solution we use for x and y, x2 + y2 = 20.

The answer is 20.

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Question

Solve for x:

2x^2-4=3 +5

Answer

2x^2-4=3 +5

First, add 4 to both sides:

Divide both sides by 2:

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Question

How many negative solutions are there to the equation below?

Answer

First, subtract 3 from both sides in order to obtain an equation that equals 0:

The left side can be factored. We need factors of that add up to . and work:

Set both factors equal to 0 and solve:

To solve the left equation, add 1 to both sides. To solve the right equation, subtract 3 from both sides. This yields two solutions:

Only one of these solutions is negative, so the answer is 1.

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Question

If the polynomial

is divided by

,

what is the remainder?

Answer

By the Remainder Theorem, if a polynomial is divided by a binomial , the remainder is .

Let . Setting , if is divided by , the remainder is , which can be evaluated by setting in the definition of and evaluating:

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Question

If the polynomial

is divided by

,

what is the remainder?

Answer

By the Remainder Theorem, if a polynomial is divided by a binomial , the remainder is .

Let . Setting (since ), if is divided by , the remainder is , which can be evaluated by setting in the definition of and evaluating:

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Question

Which of the following is a factor of the polynomial ?

Answer

Call

By the Rational Zeroes Theorem, since has only integer coefficients, any rational solution of must be a factor of 54 divided by a factor of 1 - positive or negative. 54 has as its factors 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27 , 54; 1 has only itself as a factor. Therefore, the rational solutions of must be chosen from this set:

.

By the Factor Theorem, a polynomial is divisible by if and only if - that is, if is a zero. By the preceding result, we can immediately eliminate and as factors, since 12 and 16 have been eliminated as possible zeroes.

Of the three remaining choices, we can demonstrate that is the factor by evaluating :

, so is a factor.

Of the remaining two choices, and , both can be proved to not be factors by showing that and are both nonzero:

, so is not a factor.

, so is not a factor.

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Question

Solve each problem and decide which is the best of the choices given.

What are the zeros of the following trinomial?

Answer

First factor out a . Then the factors of the remaining polynomial,

, are and .

Set everything equal to zero and you get , , and because you cant forget to set equal to zero.

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Question

Find the degree of the polynomial:

Answer

To find the degree of a polynomial we must find the largest exponent in the function.

The degree of the polynomial is 5, as the largest exponent of is 5 in the second term.

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Question

What is the degree of the polynomial ?

Answer

When a polynomial has more than one variable, we need to find the degree by adding the exponents of each variable in each term.

has a degree of 4 (since both exponents add up to 4), so the polynomial has a degree of 4 as this term has the highest degree.

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