Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/ii/paper-2/2i/i/solution

A degree- Legendre polynomial is orthogonal, for integration on , to every polynomial of degree at most , and has distinct roots in . Divide by :
The Orthogonality of Legendre polynomials gives . At every quadrature node , . The assumed exactness for therefore proves exactness up to degree , the characteristic property of Gaussian quadrature.

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