Let f ( x ) denote a 1 0 th -degree polynomial such that f ( x ) = 1 0 has roots x = 1 , 2 , 3 , … , 1 0 and f ( x ) has a constant term of 1 0 ! . Find f ( 1 1 ) .
Bonus: Generalize this.
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Hey, that's cheating! You're supposed to do interpolation, not some symmetry approach!
ahahahah Just kidding! Thank you! +1
how can you prove f(0)=10! ?
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f ( 0 ) is the constant term of f (because every term with x disappears).
f ( x ) − 1 0 = a ( x − 1 ) ( x − 2 ) ( x − 3 ) ( x − 4 ) ( x − 5 ) ( . . . )
f ( x ) = a ( x − 1 ) ( x − 2 ) ( x − 3 ) ( x − 4 ) ( x − 5 ) ( . . . ) + 1 0
Since f ( x ) has constant term of 10!, a ∗ 1 0 ! + 1 0 = 1 0 !
Then, we have f ( 1 1 ) = a ( 1 1 − 1 ) ( 1 1 − 2 ) . . . + 1 0
f ( 1 1 ) = a ∗ 1 0 ! + 1 0
Since a ∗ 1 0 ! + 1 0 = 1 0 ! ,
f ( 1 1 ) = 1 0 ! = 3 6 2 8 8 0 0
Woah! That's quick! Thank you!
By the way, there's a collaboration later where we discuss how to write up this wiki page . Are you interested in joining?
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I'm sorry, but I really don't think I'll be of any help...
Actually, it's already finished, right...?
Hey I didn't get your third step. Can u please explain???
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f ( x ) = a ( x − 1 ) ( x − 2 ) ( x − 3 ) . . . ( x − 1 0 ) + 1 0
Since in all polynomials, the constant term is f(0), then
f ( 0 ) = a ( 0 − 1 ) ( 0 − 2 ) ( 0 − 3 ) . . . ( 0 − 1 0 ) + 1 0
f ( 0 ) = a ∗ 1 0 ! + 1 0
Which is the constant term.
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Got it !!! Thanks a LOT!!!
I have a doubt. You have taken a as the coefficient ,so that the third line is not as 1 0 = 0 as the 1 0 ! cancels out. What is the necessity of coefficient a . Please explain
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The 1 0 ! does not cancel out, the ∗ sign in a ∗ 1 0 ! denotes multiplication.
Also, we still do not know the leading coefficient of the polynomial, so we denote the leading coefficient by a.
Exactly!!!! I did the same
See the title, find the most unique number, try it ._.
as the polynomial is f(x)=(x-1)(x-2)(x-3)(x-4)(x-5)(x-6)...(x-10) =>10![putting x=11]
Incorrect. You will get the correct value of f(11), but you will not get the correct value for f(12), f(13), f(14), ...
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f ( x ) − 1 0 is a 10th degree polynomial that has roots 1 , 2 , 3 , … , 1 0 . Since the roots are symmetric over the line x = 5 . 5 , the whole polynomial is also symmetric over the same line. (Proof below.) Thus f ( 1 1 ) = f ( 5 . 5 + 5 . 5 ) = f ( 5 . 5 − 5 . 5 ) = f ( 0 ) = 1 0 ! = 3 6 2 8 8 0 0 , where the equality f ( 5 . 5 + x ) = f ( 5 . 5 − x ) is because the symmetry.
Proof of this lemma:
Lemma : If n is an even integer, and f ( x ) is an n th degree polynomial that has roots a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , … , a n that are symmetric over the line x = b , then the whole polynomial is symmetric over the line x = b .
Proof : It suffices to prove it for b = 0 , since we can consider the polynomial f ( x + b ) with roots a 1 − b , a 2 − b , … , a n − b that are now symmetric over the line x = 0 . Without loss of generality assume that a 1 < a 2 < a 3 < … < a n . Then a 1 = − a n , a 2 = − a n − 1 , … .
We can factor f ( x ) = c ( x − a 1 ) ( x − a 2 ) … ( x − a n ) = c ( x + a n ) ( x − a n ) ( x + a n − 1 ) ( x − a n − 1 ) … = c ( x 2 − a n 2 ) ( x 2 − a n − 1 2 ) … . Now we can clearly see that f ( x ) is even, since the variable x always appears as x 2 , and thus f ( − x ) = f ( x ) for all x . An even polynomial is just a polynomial that is symmetric over the line x = 0 , proving the claim.