Factor [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex] into linear factors given that [tex]\( k \)[/tex] is a zero of [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex].

[tex]\[ f(x) = 3x^3 + 17x^2 - 54x + 16 \quad ; \quad k = 2 \][/tex]

[tex]\[ f(x) = \square \][/tex] (Factor completely.)



Answer :

To factor the polynomial [tex]\( f(x) = 3x^3 + 17x^2 - 54x + 16 \)[/tex] completely, given that [tex]\( k = 2 \)[/tex] is a zero of [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex], we can follow these steps:

1. Verify that [tex]\( x = 2 \)[/tex] is a root: Given [tex]\( k = 2 \)[/tex] is a zero of [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex], [tex]\( f(2) = 0 \)[/tex]. Therefore, [tex]\( x - 2 \)[/tex] is a factor of [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex].

2. Divide [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex] by [tex]\( x - 2 \)[/tex]: To factor [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex] further, we divide [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex] by [tex]\( x - 2 \)[/tex] using polynomial division or synthetic division. This will give us a quotient and possibly a remainder. Since [tex]\( x = 2 \)[/tex] is a root, the remainder will be zero.

Performing synthetic division or polynomial division:
- The quotient obtained is [tex]\( 3x^2 + 23x - 8 \)[/tex].

3. Factor the quotient: Next, we need to factor the quotient [tex]\( 3x^2 + 23x - 8 \)[/tex]. To do this, we can look for factor pairs of the product of the leading coefficient (3) and the constant term (-8):

- Factor pair that sums to the middle coefficient (23) is found, which splits the middle term into two factors.
- Rewriting and factoring the quadratic:
[tex]\[ 3x^2 + 23x - 8 = (x + 8)(3x - 1) \][/tex]

4. Combine the factors: Now, we combine [tex]\( x - 2 \)[/tex] with the factors obtained from the quotient:
- The complete factorization of [tex]\( f(x) \)[/tex] is:
[tex]\[ f(x) = (x - 2)(x + 8)(3x - 1) \][/tex]

Therefore, the polynomial [tex]\( f(x) = 3x^3 + 17x^2 - 54x + 16 \)[/tex] can be factored completely as:

[tex]\[ f(x) = (x - 2)(x + 8)(3x - 1) \][/tex]

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