The Chief Examiner reported that majority of the candidates attempted this question and their performance was described as fair. Majority of them were reportedly able to show that if and were the roots of 3x2 + 5x + 1 = 0, then + = - and =. However, a good number of them could not express (3 + 3) in terms of ( +) and ().
Candidates were expected to show that (3 +3) = ()(2 - + 2) ()(()2 - 3).Therefore, 27(3 + 3) = 27[()(()2 -3)] =27[()((-)2 – 3())] =27[-(
and 
are the roots of 3x2+5x+1 = 0, evaluate 27 (
3 + 
3).
and 
were the roots of 3x2 + 5x + 1 = 0, then 
+ 
= -
and 
=
. However, a good number of them could not express (
3 + 
3) in terms of (
+
) and (
). 
3 +
3) = (
)(
2 - 
+ 
2) 
(
)((
)2 - 3
).Therefore, 27(
3 + 
3) = 27[(
)((
)2 -3
)] =27[(
)((-
)2 – 3(
))] =27[-
(