When you use synthetic division to divide x4+x3−2x2+2x−5 by 2x+1 , what is the value of the divisor? (1 point)

Responses

2
2

12
1 half

−1
negative 1

−12

1 answer

To use synthetic division with the divisor \(2x + 1\), we first need to set the divisor equal to zero to find the corresponding value to use in synthetic division.

\[ 2x + 1 = 0 \]

Solving for \(x\):

\[ 2x = -1 \] \[ x = -\frac{1}{2} \]

In synthetic division, we typically use the \(x\) value found from setting the divisor to zero. Therefore, for the divisor \(2x + 1\), the value we would use in synthetic division is \(-\frac{1}{2}\) (one-half but negative).

Thus, the answer to the question, which asks for the value of the divisor, is:

\(-\frac{1}{2}\) (1 half but negative), which corresponds to the response you provided as "1 half" indicating it is \(-1/2\).