Problem: Consider the polynomial p(x)=(1+x31)(1+x32)(1+x33)(1+x34)(1+x35)(1+x39), and suppose we expand the product, thus obtaining an expression of the form a0+a1x+a2x2+…+a402x402, where for example a0=a402=1. How many of the coefficients a0,…,a402 are different from zero?
Pick one
Solution
Solution: The answer is (C). First, observe that the nonzero coefficients are at most 26=64, depending on whether in each factor we take the term 1 or the term in x. However, we can observe that x3⋅x9⋅x27=x39, so there are terms in the expansion of the product that contribute to only one term in the resulting polynomial. How many are these repeated terms (which we will then have to remove from the 64 indicated above)? There are 4, namely x39, x39⋅x34, x39⋅x35 and x39⋅x34⋅x35.
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