4. The term containing the highest power of x in the polynomial f(x) is 4x^4. Given that f(x) = 0
has 2 roots -2 and 3, and that 2x² + 3x + 2 is a quadratic factor of f(x),
(a) express f(x) as a polynomial in descending powers of x,



Answer :

We're given [tex]f(x) = 0[/tex] when [tex]x=-2[/tex] and [tex]x=3[/tex], so both [tex]x+2[/tex] and [tex]x-3[/tex] divide [tex]f(x)[/tex]

We're also told [tex]2x^2+3x+2[/tex] divides [tex]f(x)[/tex]. This quadratic does not have roots at -2 or 3, so we can factorize [tex]f(x)[/tex] as

[tex]f(x) = 2 (x + 2) (x - 3) (2x^2 + 3x + 2)[/tex]

where the leading coefficient is 2 because the full expansion should have a leading term of [tex]4x^4[/tex].

Now just expand [tex]f(x)[/tex] :

[tex]f(x) = 2 (x + 2) (x - 3) (2x^2 + 3x + 2)[/tex]

[tex]f(x) = 2 (x^2 - x - 6) (2x^2 + 3x + 2)[/tex]

[tex]f(x) = 2 (2x^4 + x^3 - 13x^2 - 20x - 12)[/tex]

[tex]f(x) = \boxed{4x^4 + 2x^3 - 26x^2 - 40x - 24}[/tex]