Write a polynomial function in standard form with the given zeros 1,2,4

Answer 1

The first step is to express the zeros as factors. This is

(x-1)(x-2)(x-4)

Then you multiply these expressions together

(x^2-3x+2)(x-4) when I multiply the first 2 terms by FOIL

Then if I use the distributive property for the next multiplication I get:

x^2(x-4)-3x(x-4)+2(x-4)

Using the distributive property again

x^3-4x^2-4x^2+12x+2x-8

Combining like terms:

x^3-7x^2+14x-8