Precalculus (6th Edition) Blitzer

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-13446-914-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-13446-914-0

Chapter 2 - Review Exercises - Page 431: 53

Answer

$ f $ cannot have any positive real zeroes and cannot have any negative real zeroes.

Work Step by Step

Consider a polynomial $ f(x)=a_nx^n+a_{n-1} x^{n-1} +....+a_2 x^2+a_1x+a_0$ with real coefficients and $ a_0 \ne 0$ Remember: 1) The number of positive real zeros of $ f(x)$ is less than or equal to the number of variations in sign of $ f(x)$. 2)The number of negative real zeros of $ f(x)$ is less than or equal to the number of variations in sign of $ f(-x)$. We see that $ f(x)=f(-x)=2x^4+6x^2+8$ Thus, the function has no real roots.
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