LOL!!!.....yep, that helps !!!
x^4 + 7x^3 + 9x^2 - 17x - 20
The possible rational zeroes are ± ( 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20)
We have one sign change ..so we have 1 positive root
To find the number of possible negative roots look at f(-x) =
(-x)^4 + 7(-x)^3 + 9(-x)^2 - 17(-x) -20 =
x^4 - 7x^3 + 9x^2 + 17x - 20
We have hree sign changes so we either have 3 or 1 negative roots
Let's write the above in a slightly different manner
x^4 + 7x^3 + 6x^2 + 3x^2 - 17x - 20 factor this
x^2(x^2 + 7x + 6) + (3x - 20)) (x + 1) =
x^2 ( x + 1) (x + 6) + (x + 1) (3x - 20) factor out the ( x + 1)
(x + 1) [ x^2 (x + 6) + (3x - 20) ]
(x + 1) [ x^3 + 6x^2 + 3x - 20 ] the second polynomial factors as (x + 4) (x^2 + 2x - 5)
So we have
(x + 1) (x + 4)(x^2 + 2x - 5)
Setting the first two factors to 0 and solving for x produces x = - 1 and x = 4
The other two roots come from using the quadratic formula to solve the 3rd polynomial...these are
x = √6 - 1 (p0sitive) and x = -√ 6 - 1 (negative)
So....we have 1 positive root and 3 negative roots