Does anyone know of any re-useable methods for factoring long polynomials like this 5th degree polynomial?

-2x^5+2x^4+8x^3+8x^2-2x-2

I'm great at finding derivatives but not so good at factoring polynomials

Question

Does anyone know of any re-useable methods for factoring long polynomials like this 5th degree polynomial?

-2x^5+2x^4+8x^3+8x^2-2x-2

I'm great at finding derivatives but not so good at factoring polynomials

anonymous · Answer

There really arent any fast methods for find the roots of a polynomial of high degree. Your best bet is to use the Rational Roots Theorem and hope you get a hit.

anonymous · Answer

You can try:
$$\frac{\pm factors of constant}{factors of leading term}$$
Then using long division. If you get a zero remainder then its a root. I believe thats what joe is talking about.

anonymous · Answer

In this case, after dividing through by 2, RRT only gives u plus minus 1 as possibilities, neither of which work. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=-2x^5%2B2x^4%2B8x^3%2B8x^2-2x-2 is confirmation, I don't know what sort of algorithm they use for approximating roots.