Question

Use synthetic substitution to evaluate: P(x) = 6x^3 - x^2 +3x +5 at x =1/2

Answer 1

Given:

$P(x)=6x^3-x^2+3x+5$

We will use the synthetic substitution to evaluate P(x) when x = 1/2

So, we will divide the given coefficients of the function P(x) by x = 1/2

the remainder will be the value of P(x) when x = 1/2

The synthetic division will be as shown in the following picture:

As shown the remainder = 7

So, the answer will be:

The value of P(x) when x = 1/2 will be = 7