What are the upper limit for the zeros of the function

P(x) = 4x^ 4 + 8x^ 3 - 7x^ 2 - 21x - 9

Question

What are the upper limit for the zeros of the function

P(x) = 4x^ 4 + 8x^ 3 - 7x^ 2 - 21x - 9

hartnn · Answer

The upper limit for the zeros of any polynomial function is equal to the degree of the polynomial, can you find the degree of f(x) ?

hartnn · Answer

..*of P(x)

hartnn · Answer

@themonkey ?

anonymous · Answer

I'm not sure how to find the degree

hartnn · Answer

The degree is the highest power(exponent) of 'x' in the polynomial.
example : degree of x^4+2x^3-x+1 will be 4.
so what id degree here ?

anonymous · Answer

Oh it's 4

hartnn · Answer

yes! exactly, good :)
so, upper limit for zeros also =4.

anonymous · Answer

That's not one of the choices it gives me

hartnn · Answer

what are the choices ?

anonymous · Answer

-3, 2, and 3

sirm3d · Answer

apply synthetic division on $P(x)$ using each of the numbers -3, 2 and 3, in that increasing order. the first one that yields all positive integers in the last row of the synthetic division is an upper bound of the zeroes of $P(x)$

hartnn · Answer

looks like i have mis-interpreted the question....

sirm3d · Answer

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