Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Solve polynomial equation when sum of 2 roots is equal to sum of the other 2 roots?

x^4 - 8x^3 - 14x^2 + 8x -15

let 4 roots be a,b,c,d

sum of 4 roots = 8

sum of 2 roots say ( a+ b) = (c+d) so (a+b)= (c+d) = 4

(x-a)(x-b)(x-c)(x-d) = 0

(x^2 - (a+b) x + ab)(x^2 - (c+d)x + cd) = 0

or (x^2 - 4x + ab)(x^2- 4x+ cd) = 0

say ab = m and cd= n

we get (x^2-4x + m)(x^2 - 4x + n)
= x^4 - 8x^3 + x^2(m + n + 16) - 4x(m+n) + mn

so mn = - 15, m+ n = - 2 , m+n+16 = - 14 (from coefficient)

so equations are consistent

solving we get m = - 5, n = 3

we get (x^4- 4x - 5)(x^2 - 4x + 3)

= (x-5)(x+1) (x-3)(x-1)


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Adding polynomials is just a matter of combining like terms, with some order of operations considerations thrown in. As long as you're careful with the minus signs, and don't confuse addition and multiplication.adding polynomials

kaliprasad said...

I have done the correction for the same. Thanks Raj.