This is a simple example:- x + 9 ------------------------------ x - 1 ) x^2 + 8x - 9 x^2 - x subtract ------------ 9x - 9 9x - 9 ---------- ..........
First divide x into x^2 to give x which goes above Then multiply x - 1 by x to give x^2 - x
Subtract this fro x^2 + 8x gives 9x Bring down the - 9 then divide x into 9x and finally multiply x - 1 by 9 to give 9x - 9 Finally subtract and you sre done. There is no remainder as x - 1 is a factor of x^2 + 8x - 9.
The polynomial must be in descending powers of x . If one is missing you insert it with a coefficient of zero before you start the division.
for example if you have x^3 - 3x + 12 you write it as