High School

What is the remainder in the synthetic division problem below?

[tex]\[ 1 \longdiv 4 \; 6 \; -1 \][/tex]

A. 5
B. 7
C. 3
D. 9

Answer :

We are performing synthetic division with the divisor [tex]$1$[/tex] and the polynomial with coefficients [tex]$4$[/tex], [tex]$6$[/tex], and [tex]$-1$[/tex]. The process is as follows:

1. Write the coefficients:
[tex]$$4,\quad 6,\quad -1$$[/tex]

2. Bring down the first coefficient:
[tex]$$4$$[/tex]

3. Multiply the divisor [tex]$1$[/tex] by [tex]$4$[/tex] (the value just brought down) and add this to the second coefficient:
[tex]$$4 \times 1 = 4$$[/tex]
[tex]$$6 + 4 = 10$$[/tex]

4. Multiply the new value [tex]$10$[/tex] by the divisor [tex]$1$[/tex] and add this to the third coefficient:
[tex]$$10 \times 1 = 10$$[/tex]
[tex]$$-1 + 10 = 9$$[/tex]

The final value [tex]$9$[/tex] is the remainder.

Thus, the remainder in the synthetic division is [tex]$$\boxed{9}.$$[/tex]