AS/A2 Pure 2 Pure 3

P1 Topic 2: Algebra
The factor theorem 1
The factor theorem states that:
If f(x) is a polynomial and f(a) = 0, then x-a is a factor of f(x).
Use the interactive display to choose a function f(x) and a root of f(x)=0. The function will then be factorised for you.

Summary The factor theorem is a very useful result. It helps to get answers in an easy and quick way, and it often means that you can avoid using "algebraic long division". This page uses HotEqn.