very interesting to see synthetic division twice and set the remainder equal to zero (which leads to the same expression when differentiating) this idea can be extended. whenever you divide a polynomial p(x) by (x-a)^2, the remainder bx + c will be the the equation of the tangent of p(x) at x = a. proof: p(x) = q(x)(x-a)^2 + bx + c --- eqn 1, where r(x) = bx + c p'(x) = q'(x)(x-a)^2 + 2q(x)(x-a) + b p'(2) = q'(2)(2-2)^2 + 2q(2)(2-2) + b p'(2) = b equation of tangent is y = p'(2)x + c_1 => y = bx + c_1 --- eqn 2 since p'(2) = b when x = 2, p(x) = p(2) and y = p(2) => p(2) = 2b + c_1 (substituing into equation 2) ---- eqn (3) => p(2) = q(2)(2-2)^2 + 2b + c (substuting into equation 1) ---- eqn (4) => p(2) = 2b + c --- eqn (4a) since both eqn (3) and eqn (4a) has subject p(2), this means 2b + c_1 = 2b + c => c_1 = c substituting back into eqn 2 => equation of tangent of polynomial p(x) at x = 2: y = bx + c = r(x) So if you don't feel like finding of equations of tangents using calculus, u can divide by its quadratic factor lol (or if you want to say calculus is banned).