Precalculus Examples

$16 x^{10} - 20 x^{9} - 16 x^{8} + 57 x^{7} - 369 x^{6} + 405 x^{5} + 641 x^{4} - 1612 x^{3} + 358 x^{2} + 1440 x - 360$

Step 1

If a polynomial function has integer coefficients, then every rational zero will have the form $\frac{p}{q}$ where $p$ is a factor of the constant and $q$ is a factor of the leading coefficient.

$p = \pm 1, \pm 2, \pm 3, \pm 4, \pm 5, \pm 6, \pm 8, \pm 9, \pm 10, \pm 12, \pm 15, \pm 18, \pm 20, \pm 24, \pm 30, \pm 36, \pm 40, \pm 45, \pm 60, \pm 72, \pm 90, \pm 120, \pm 180, \pm 360$

$q = \pm 1, \pm 2, \pm 4, \pm 8, \pm 16$

Step 2

Find every combination of $\pm \frac{p}{q}$ . These are the possible roots of the polynomial function.

$\pm 1, \pm \frac{1}{2}, \pm \frac{1}{4}, \pm \frac{1}{8}, \pm \frac{1}{16}, \pm 2, \pm 3, \pm \frac{3}{2}, \pm \frac{3}{4}, \pm \frac{3}{8}, \pm \frac{3}{16}, \pm 4, \pm 5, \pm \frac{5}{2}, \pm \frac{5}{4}, \pm \frac{5}{8}, \pm \frac{5}{16}, \pm 6, \pm 8, \pm 9, \pm \frac{9}{2}, \pm \frac{9}{4}, \pm \frac{9}{8}, \pm \frac{9}{16}, \pm 10, \pm 12, \pm 15, \pm \frac{15}{2}, \pm \frac{15}{4}, \pm \frac{15}{8}, \pm \frac{15}{16}, \pm 18, \pm 20, \pm 24, \pm 30, \pm 36, \pm 40, \pm 45, \pm \frac{45}{2}, \pm \frac{45}{4}, \pm \frac{45}{8}, \pm \frac{45}{16}, \pm 60, \pm 72, \pm 90, \pm 120, \pm 180, \pm 360$