Question

How do you divide `x^3 + 6x^2 + 12x + 8` by `x +2`?

Answer 1

`(x^3+6x^2+12+8)/(x+2) = x^2+4x+4`

Explanation:

One way is to long divide the coefficients like this:

The process is similar to long division of numbers.

In this particular example, we find the quotient `1, 4, 4` meaning `x^2+4x+4`, with no remainder. That is:

`(x^3+6x^2+12+8)/(x+2) = x^2+4x+4`