Triangle Inequality Values
Find the remainder when the polynomial
\[p(x) = 1 + x^2 + x^4 + x^6 + \dots + x^{22}\]is divided by the polynomial $ q(x) = 1 + x + x^2 + x^3 + \dots + x^{11} $.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- +
- 4
- 5
- 6
- -
- 7
- 8
- 9
- $\frac{a}{b}$
- .
- 0
- =
- %
- $a^n$
- $a^{\circ}$
- $a_n$
- $\sqrt{}$
- $\sqrt[n]{}$
- $\pi$
- $\ln{}$
- $\log$
- $\theta$
- $\sin{}$
- $\cos{}$
- $\tan{}$
- $($
- $)$
- $[$
- $]$
- $\cap$
- $\cup$
- $,$
- $\infty$
Solution
From the formula for a geometric series,
\[p(x) = 1 + x^2 + x^4 + x^6 + \dots + x^{22} = \frac{x^{24} - 1}{x^2 - 1}.\]Likewise,
\[q(x) = 1 + x + x^2 + x^3 + \dots + x^{11} = \frac{x^{12} - 1}{x - 1}.\]At first, it may look like we can write $ p(x) $ as a multiple of $ q(x) $:
\[\frac{x^{24} - 1}{x^2 - 1} = \frac{x^{12} - 1}{x - 1} \cdot \frac{x^{12} + 1}{x + 1}.\]Unfortunately, $ \frac{x^{12} + 1}{x + 1} $ is not a polynomial. A polynomial of the form $ x^n + 1 $ is a multiple of $ x + 1 $ only when $ n $ is odd.
So, we can try to get close by considering $ \frac{x^{11} + 1}{x + 1} $. Let's also multiply this by $ x, $ so that we get a polynomial of degree 12. Thus,
\begin{align*}
\frac{x^{12} - 1}{x - 1} \cdot \frac{x(x^{11} + 1)}{x + 1} &= \frac{x^{12} - 1}{x - 1} \cdot \frac{x^{12} + x}{x + 1} \\
&= \frac{x^{12} - 1}{x^2 - 1} \cdot (x^{12} + x) \\
&= (x^{10} + x^8 + x^6 + x^4 + x^2 + 1)(x^{12} + x) \\
&= x^{22} + x^{20} + x^{18} + x^{16} + x^{14} + x^{12} + x^{11} + x^9 + x^7 + x^5 + x^3 + x.\end{align*}This is a multiple of $ q(x) $ that's very close to $ p(x) $. In fact, when we take the difference, we get
\begin{align*}
&p(x) - (x^{22} + x^{20} + x^{18} + x^{16} + x^{14} + x^{12} + x^{11} + x^9 + x^7 + x^5 + x^3 + x) \\
&\quad = -x^{11} + x^{10} - x^9 + x^8 - x^7 + x^6 - x^5 + x^4 - x^3 + x^2 - x + 1.\end{align*}Now, if we add $ q(x), $ we get
\begin{align*}
&p(x) + q(x) - (x^{22} + x^{20} + x^{18} + x^{16} + x^{14} + x^{12} + x^{11} + x^9 + x^7 + x^5 + x^3 + x) \\
&\quad = 2x^{10} + 2x^8 + 2x^6 + 2x^4 + 2x^2 + 2.\end{align*}We can also write this as
\begin{align*}
&p(x) - (x^{22} + x^{20} + x^{18} + x^{16} + x^{14} + x^{12} + x^{11} + x^9 + x^7 + x^5 + x^3 + x - q(x)) \\
&\quad = 2x^{10} + 2x^8 + 2x^6 + 2x^4 + 2x^2 + 2.\end{align*}So, we took $ p(x), $ subtracted
\[x^{22} + x^{20} + x^{18} + x^{16} + x^{14} + x^{12} + x^{11} + x^9 + x^7 + x^5 + x^3 + x - q(x),\]which we know is a multiple of $ q(x), $ and ended up with $ \boxed{2x^{10} + 2x^8 + 2x^6 + 2x^4 + 2x^2 + 2} $. Since the degree of this polynomial is less than the degree of $ q(x), $ this is our remainder.