Precalculus Examples

$x^{2} (x - 2) (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 1

Apply the distributive property.

$(x^{2} x + x^{2} \cdot - 2) (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 2

Multiply $x^{2}$ by $x$ by adding the exponents.

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Step 2.1

Multiply $x^{2}$ by $x$ .

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Step 2.1.1

Raise $x$ to the power of $1$ .

$(x^{2} x^{1} + x^{2} \cdot - 2) (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 2.1.2

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$(x^{2 + 1} + x^{2} \cdot - 2) (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 2.2

Add $2$ and $1$ .

$(x^{3} + x^{2} \cdot - 2) (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 3

Move $- 2$ to the left of $x^{2}$ .

$(x^{3} - 2 x^{2}) (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 4

Expand $(x^{3} - 2 x^{2}) (x + 2)$ using the FOIL Method.

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Step 4.1

Apply the distributive property.

$x^{3} (x + 2) - 2 x^{2} (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 4.2

Apply the distributive property.

$x^{3} x + x^{3} \cdot 2 - 2 x^{2} (x + 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 4.3

Apply the distributive property.

$x^{3} x + x^{3} \cdot 2 - 2 x^{2} x - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5

Simplify and combine like terms.

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Step 5.1

Simplify each term.

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Step 5.1.1

Multiply $x^{3}$ by $x$ by adding the exponents.

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Step 5.1.1.1

Multiply $x^{3}$ by $x$ .

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Step 5.1.1.1.1

Raise $x$ to the power of $1$ .

$x^{3} x^{1} + x^{3} \cdot 2 - 2 x^{2} x - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.1.1.2

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$x^{3 + 1} + x^{3} \cdot 2 - 2 x^{2} x - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.1.2

Add $3$ and $1$ .

$x^{4} + x^{3} \cdot 2 - 2 x^{2} x - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.2

Move $2$ to the left of $x^{3}$ .

$x^{4} + 2 x^{3} - 2 x^{2} x - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.3

Multiply $x^{2}$ by $x$ by adding the exponents.

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Step 5.1.3.1

Move $x$ .

$x^{4} + 2 x^{3} - 2 (x \cdot x^{2}) - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.3.2

Multiply $x$ by $x^{2}$ .

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Step 5.1.3.2.1

Raise $x$ to the power of $1$ .

$x^{4} + 2 x^{3} - 2 (x^{1} x^{2}) - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.3.2.2

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$x^{4} + 2 x^{3} - 2 x^{1 + 2} - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.3.3

Add $1$ and $2$ .

$x^{4} + 2 x^{3} - 2 x^{3} - 2 x^{2} \cdot 2 + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.1.4

Multiply $2$ by $- 2$ .

$x^{4} + 2 x^{3} - 2 x^{3} - 4 x^{2} + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.2

Subtract $2 x^{3}$ from $2 x^{3}$ .

$x^{4} + 0 - 4 x^{2} + 3 x + 6$

Step 5.3

Add $x^{4}$ and $0$ .

$x^{4} - 4 x^{2} + 3 x + 6$

Step 6

Rewrite $x^{4} - 4 x^{2} + 3 x + 6$ in a factored form.

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Step 6.1

Factor $x^{2}$ out of $x^{4} - 4 x^{2}$ .

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Step 6.1.1

Factor $x^{2}$ out of $x^{4}$ .

$x^{2} x^{2} - 4 x^{2} + 3 x + 6$

Step 6.1.2

Factor $x^{2}$ out of $- 4 x^{2}$ .

$x^{2} x^{2} + x^{2} \cdot - 4 + 3 x + 6$

Step 6.1.3

Factor $x^{2}$ out of $x^{2} x^{2} + x^{2} \cdot - 4$ .

$x^{2} (x^{2} - 4) + 3 x + 6$

Step 6.2

Rewrite $4$ as $2^{2}$ .

$x^{2} (x^{2} - 2^{2}) + 3 x + 6$

Step 6.3

Factor.

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Step 6.3.1

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = x$ and $b = 2$ .

$x^{2} ((x + 2) (x - 2)) + 3 x + 6$

Step 6.3.2

Remove unnecessary parentheses.

$x^{2} (x + 2) (x - 2) + 3 x + 6$

Step 6.4

Factor $3$ out of $3 x + 6$ .

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Step 6.4.1

Factor $3$ out of $3 x$ .

$x^{2} (x + 2) (x - 2) + 3 (x) + 6$

Step 6.4.2

Factor $3$ out of $6$ .

$x^{2} (x + 2) (x - 2) + 3 x + 3 \cdot 2$

Step 6.4.3

Factor $3$ out of $3 x + 3 \cdot 2$ .

$x^{2} (x + 2) (x - 2) + 3 (x + 2)$

Step 6.5

Factor $x + 2$ out of $x^{2} (x + 2) (x - 2) + 3 (x + 2)$ .

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Step 6.5.1

Factor $x + 2$ out of $x^{2} (x + 2) (x - 2)$ .

$(x + 2) (x^{2} (x - 2)) + 3 (x + 2)$

Step 6.5.2

Factor $x + 2$ out of $3 (x + 2)$ .

$(x + 2) (x^{2} (x - 2)) + (x + 2) \cdot 3$

Step 6.5.3

Factor $x + 2$ out of $(x + 2) (x^{2} (x - 2)) + (x + 2) \cdot 3$ .

$(x + 2) (x^{2} (x - 2) + 3)$

Step 6.6

Apply the distributive property.

$(x + 2) (x^{2} x + x^{2} \cdot - 2 + 3)$

Step 6.7

Multiply $x^{2}$ by $x$ by adding the exponents.

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Step 6.7.1

Multiply $x^{2}$ by $x$ .

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Step 6.7.1.1

Raise $x$ to the power of $1$ .

$(x + 2) (x^{2} x^{1} + x^{2} \cdot - 2 + 3)$

Step 6.7.1.2

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$(x + 2) (x^{2 + 1} + x^{2} \cdot - 2 + 3)$

Step 6.7.2

Add $2$ and $1$ .

$(x + 2) (x^{3} + x^{2} \cdot - 2 + 3)$

Step 6.8

Move $- 2$ to the left of $x^{2}$ .

$(x + 2) (x^{3} - 2 x^{2} + 3)$

Step 6.9

Factor.

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Step 6.9.1

Factor $x^{3} - 2 x^{2} + 3$ using the rational roots test.

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Step 6.9.1.1

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.

$p = \pm 1, \pm 3$

$q = \pm 1$

Step 6.9.1.2

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

$\pm 1, \pm 3$

Step 6.9.1.3

Substitute $- 1$ and simplify the expression. In this case, the expression is equal to $0$ so $- 1$ is a root of the polynomial.

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Step 6.9.1.3.1

Substitute $- 1$ into the polynomial.

${(- 1)}^{3} - 2 {(- 1)}^{2} + 3$

Step 6.9.1.3.2

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $3$ .

$- 1 - 2 {(- 1)}^{2} + 3$

Step 6.9.1.3.3

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $2$ .

$- 1 - 2 \cdot 1 + 3$

Step 6.9.1.3.4

Multiply $- 2$ by $1$ .

$- 1 - 2 + 3$

Step 6.9.1.3.5

Subtract $2$ from $- 1$ .

$- 3 + 3$

Step 6.9.1.3.6

Add $- 3$ and $3$ .

$0$

Step 6.9.1.4

Since $- 1$ is a known root, divide the polynomial by $x + 1$ to find the quotient polynomial. This polynomial can then be used to find the remaining roots.

$\frac{x^{3} - 2 x^{2} + 3}{x + 1}$

Step 6.9.1.5

Divide $x^{3} - 2 x^{2} + 3$ by $x + 1$ .

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Step 6.9.1.5.1

Set up the polynomials to be divided. If there is not a term for every exponent, insert one with a value of $0$ .

$x$

$1$

$x^{3}$

$2 x^{2}$

$0 x$

$3$

Step 6.9.1.5.2

Divide the highest order term in the dividend $x^{3}$ by the highest order term in divisor $x$ .

					$x^{2}$
	$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$

Step 6.9.1.5.3

Multiply the new quotient term by the divisor.

				$x^{2}$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			+	$x^{3}$	+	$x^{2}$

Step 6.9.1.5.4

The expression needs to be subtracted from the dividend, so change all the signs in $x^{3} + x^{2}$

				$x^{2}$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$

Step 6.9.1.5.5

After changing the signs, add the last dividend from the multiplied polynomial to find the new dividend.

				$x^{2}$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$

Step 6.9.1.5.6

Pull the next terms from the original dividend down into the current dividend.

				$x^{2}$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$

Step 6.9.1.5.7

Divide the highest order term in the dividend $- 3 x^{2}$ by the highest order term in divisor $x$ .

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$

Step 6.9.1.5.8

Multiply the new quotient term by the divisor.

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	-	$3 x$

Step 6.9.1.5.9

The expression needs to be subtracted from the dividend, so change all the signs in $- 3 x^{2} - 3 x$

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$

Step 6.9.1.5.10

After changing the signs, add the last dividend from the multiplied polynomial to find the new dividend.

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$
							+	$3 x$

Step 6.9.1.5.11

Pull the next terms from the original dividend down into the current dividend.

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$
							+	$3 x$	+	$3$

Step 6.9.1.5.12

Divide the highest order term in the dividend $3 x$ by the highest order term in divisor $x$ .

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$	+	$3$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$
							+	$3 x$	+	$3$

Step 6.9.1.5.13

Multiply the new quotient term by the divisor.

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$	+	$3$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$
							+	$3 x$	+	$3$
							+	$3 x$	+	$3$

Step 6.9.1.5.14

The expression needs to be subtracted from the dividend, so change all the signs in $3 x + 3$

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$	+	$3$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$
							+	$3 x$	+	$3$
							-	$3 x$	-	$3$

Step 6.9.1.5.15

After changing the signs, add the last dividend from the multiplied polynomial to find the new dividend.

				$x^{2}$	-	$3 x$	+	$3$
$x$	+	$1$		$x^{3}$	-	$2 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$	+	$3$
			-	$x^{3}$	-	$x^{2}$
					-	$3 x^{2}$	+	$0 x$
					+	$3 x^{2}$	+	$3 x$
							+	$3 x$	+	$3$
							-	$3 x$	-	$3$
										$0$

Step 6.9.1.5.16

Since the remander is $0$ , the final answer is the quotient.

$x^{2} - 3 x + 3$

Step 6.9.1.6

Write $x^{3} - 2 x^{2} + 3$ as a set of factors.

$(x + 2) ((x + 1) (x^{2} - 3 x + 3))$

Step 6.9.2

Remove unnecessary parentheses.

$(x + 2) (x + 1) (x^{2} - 3 x + 3)$