How do you divide #(x^4+x^2+2) / (x-2) #?

1 Answer
Apr 27, 2017

#x^3+2x^2+5x+10+\frac{22}{x-2}#

Explanation:

We have to find what multiplied by #x-2# cancels #x^4#. In this case it is #x^3#. Multiplying by #x^3# we get #x^4-2x^3#. We can then subtract this from the numerator to get
#x^4+x^2+2-(x^4-2x^3)=2x^3+x^2+2#

Now we need to find a value that will cancel #2x^3#. This value is #2x^2#. Multiplying by this we get #2x^3-4x^2#. Subtracting we get
#2x^3+x^2+2-(2x^3-4x^2)=5x^2+2#

The value that will cancel out #5x^2# is #5x#. Subtracting we get
#5x^2+2-(5x^2-10x)=10x+2#

To cancel out #10x# we can us #10#.
#10x+2-(10x-20)=22#

Since we can't divide anymore, 22 is the remainder. We add the remainder divided by the denominator to the rest of the terms we got to get
#x^3+2x^2+5x+10+\frac{22}{x-2}#