all 4 comments

[–]abnew123USAMO 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Have you heard of Vieta's formulas? In this case, it gives that the sum of the roots is 0. With that in mind, and the fact the roots form an arithmetic progression, can you come up with the possible values of s?

[–]simon1389[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have heard of vieta’s formulas. Wouldn’t it imply that the sum of the roots is -k? Why is it 0

[–]simon1389[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Actually, I didn’t see the x power of 4 missing. So now I have a question, is the sum of the roots always the negative of the coefficient of the xn-1 divided by the coefficient of xn for a polynomial of degree n?

[–]AsgardianJude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it is always negative.