NONLINEAR POLYNOMIAL AND

TRANSCENDENTAL FUNCTIONS

Lesson 1
Presented by: Engr. Romulo C. Cruz, Jr.
CEAT/EE Department

Saturday, August 20, 2022

 LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Familiarize with numerical methods and analysis terminologies

• Use factoring to find the roots of a nonlinear polynomial function
• Identify the x-intercepts, number of turning points, and
multiplicities of polynomial functions
• Graph a polynomial function by hand using its characteristics, and
by using a graphing calculator
• Determine the polynomial function from its graph
• Determine the roots of transcendental functions by Intersection
method, and by using a graphing calculator

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 INTRODUCTION

Saturday, August 20, 2022

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

• branch of mathematics concerned with methods,

usually iterative, for obtaining solutions to problems
by means of a computer (Collins English Dictionary)

• branch of mathematics dealing with methods for

obtaining approximate numerical solutions of
mathematical problems (dictionary.com)
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NUMERICAL METHOD

• an algorithm that search for an approximate solution

for a mathematical problem that usually cannot be
found exactly (Omar Fabcooni)

• a mathematical tool designed to solve numerical

problems (Wikipedia)

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ALGORITHM

• a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations

or other problem-solving operations, especially by a
computer

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ISSUES IN NUMERICAL METHODS AND ANALYSIS

• Accuracy

• Stability

• Efficiency

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TWO BASIC MEASUREMENTS OF ACCURACY

• Absolute Error
– difference between the exact value and approximate value
𝜺𝒂 = 𝒂 − 𝒂 ෥
• Relative Error
– ratio of absolute error to the exact value
𝒂−෥𝒂
𝜺𝒓 =
𝒂

where: 𝑎 = exact value

෥ = approximate value
𝒂

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ERROR PROPAGATION

• refers to how errors (round-off error, for example) at

the beginning and in latter steps propagate into the
computation and affect accuracy

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NONLINEAR POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS

Saturday, August 20, 2022

NONLINEAR POLYNOMIAL FUNCTION

• a function such as a quadratic, a cubic, a quartic, etc.

that involves non-negative integer powers of x
• degree is greater than one
• general form
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑎0 𝑥 𝑛 + 𝑎1 𝑥 𝑛−1 + 𝑎2 𝑥 𝑛−2 + … + 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑥 + 𝑎𝑛

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EXAMPLES OF NONLINEAR POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS

• 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 − 36 = 0 … a quadratic

• 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 3 − 𝑥 2 − 17𝑥 − 15 = 0 … a cubic

• 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 4 − 3𝑥 3 − 15𝑥 2 + 19𝑥 + 30 = 0 … a quartic

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EXAMPLES OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mc-ty-polynomial-2009-1.pdf

Constant, Linear Functions Quadratic Functions

• Feature 1 • Feature 1
• Feature 2 • Feature 2
• Feature 3 • Feature 3

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EXAMPLES OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mc-ty-polynomial-2009-1.pdf

Quadratics with positive coefficient of x Quadratics with negative coefficients of x

• Feature 1 • Feature 1
• Feature 2 • Feature 2
• Feature 3 • Feature 3

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TURNING POINTS OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS

TURNING POINT
• a point where the graph of the function changes
from sloping downwards to sloping upwards

NOTE: A polynomial of degree n can have up to (𝑛 − 1) turning points

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TURNING POINTS OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mc-ty-polynomial-2009-1.pdf

• Quadratic has only one turning

• 3
point

• Cubic has up to two turning

points

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TURNING POINTS OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/mc-ty-polynomial-2009-1.pdf

• Some cubics have fewer turning

points: 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 3

• Quartic has up to three turning

points

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ROOTS OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTION

ROOTS
• are the x-intercepts of a function and are found
by equating the polynomial function to zero
• also called the solutions or the zeros of f

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FACTORING A POLYNOMIAL FUNCTION

• splitting into a multiplication of simpler functions

– set 𝑓 𝑥 = 0
– factor out the GCF or any common monomial factor
– factor any factorable binomials or trinomials
– set each factor equal to zero and solve the x-
intercepts/roots
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EXAMPLE PROBLEM 1
Determine the x-intercepts of the function
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 6 − 20𝑥 4 + 64𝑥 2

Solution:
Set the function equal to zero
𝑥 6 − 20𝑥 4 + 64𝑥 2 = 0

Factor the GCF

𝑥 2 𝑥 4 − 20𝑥 2 + 64 = 0

Factor the trinomial

𝑥 2 𝑥 2 − 4 (𝑥 2 − 16) = 0
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EXAMPLE PROBLEM 1
Continuation of Solution:
Set each factor to zero
𝑥 2 = 0, 𝑥 2 − 4 = 0, (𝑥 2 − 16) = 0

This will yield the solutions/roots/zeros:

𝑥 = 0, 𝑥 = ±2, 𝑥 = ±4

or the x-intercepts
𝟎, 𝟎 , 𝟐, 𝟎 , −𝟐, 𝟎 , 𝟒, 𝟎 , (−𝟒, 𝟎)
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EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2
Determine the x-intercepts of the function
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 3 − 7𝑥 2 − 6𝑥 + 72

For class demonstration.

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MULTIPLICITY OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTION
• the number of times a given factor appears in the
factored form of a polynomial equation
– for even multiplicity, the graph touches the x-axis
– for odd multiplicity, the graph crosses the x-axis

• the sum of the multiplicities is the degree of the

polynomial function
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POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS WITH MULTIPLICITY

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-collegealgebra/chapter/graphs-of-polynomial-functions/

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GRAPHING POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
For the polynomial function in the form

𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒂𝟎 𝒙𝒏 + 𝒂𝟏 𝒙𝒏−𝟏 + 𝒂𝟐 𝒙𝒏−𝟐 + … + 𝒂𝒏−𝟏 𝒙 + 𝒂𝒏

CASE 1: If 𝑎0 > 0 and n is odd, then the

graph 𝑓 𝑥 will increase without bound
at the right end and decrease without
bound at the left end

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GRAPHING POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
CASE 2: If 𝑎0 > 0 and n is
even, then the graph 𝑓 𝑥
will increase without
bound at both endpoints

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GRAPHING POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
CASE 3: If 𝑎0 < 0 and n is
odd, then the graph 𝑓 𝑥
will decrease without
bound at the right end
and increase without
bound at the left end

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GRAPHING POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS
CASE 4: If 𝑎0 < 0 and n is
even, then the graph 𝑓 𝑥
will decrease without
bound at both endpoints

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EXAMPLE PROBLEM 3
Find the roots and their multiplicities, and the number of turning
points of the function
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 6 + 𝑥 5 − 2𝑥 4 − 2𝑥 3 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥

Use these information to graph the polynomial function.

Solution:
The polynomial function can be factored as
𝑥 𝑥 5 + 𝑥 4 − 2𝑥 3 − 2𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 1 = 0
𝑥 𝑥+1 3 𝑥−1 2 =0

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EXAMPLE PROBLEM 3
This will give the roots
𝒙 = −𝟏, −𝟏, −𝟏, 𝟎, 𝟏, 𝟏

Root 0: multiplicity 1 (crosses the x-axis)

Root -1: multiplicity 3 (crosses the x-axis)
Root 1: multiplicity 2 (touches the x-axis)

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EXAMPLE PROBLEM 3

Number of turning points: 4

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