Good morning class. Yesterday, we discussed the long division. Today, we're going to talk about how to use the Synthetic Divsion.
SYNTHETICDIVISION
Synthetic division is a shortcut that can be used when the divisor is a binomial in the form x – k. In synthetic division, only the coefficients are used in the division process.
As we all know the divisor is x-2. We will bring down the opposite sign of the coefficient which is positive 2 = k.
For instance, let's divide x² - 14x + 24 by x-2.
Next, we will write the coefficients of the dividend separated by spaces. Then bring down the leading coefficient which is 1.
We will now multiply the leading coefficient by 2. Then, write the product in the next column which is also 2.