Factoring

Polynomials

Factoring
Trinomials by
Grouping
𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐,
𝑎≠1
“The only way to
learn mathematics is
to do mathematics”
Things needed for this
❑Mathematics Notebook (Old or New)

❑Pen or Pencil

❑Calculator or Smartphone (if you want)

❑Be Resourceful

❑Ask for guidance if needed

❑Collaborate with your classmates and teacher (Chat)

Pre-requisite skills needed
❑Multiplication/Division of Polynomials

❑Factoring Greatest Common Factor of Polynomial

❑Factoring by Grouping

❑Factoring Trinomials where 𝑎 = 1

Objectives
❑To be able to factor trinomials with a coefficient of
1 for the squared term. 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 , where
𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 1

❑Factor such polynomials after factoring out the

greatest common factor
Review
Factoring by Grouping
Step 1. Factor out GGF of the whole expression
Step 2. Group terms. Collect terms into two groups so that each group
has a common factor.
Step 3. Factor within groups. Factor out the greatest common factor from
each group.
Step 4. Factor the entire polynomial. Factor a common binomial factor
from the result of step 2
Step 5. If necessary, rearrange terms. If step 2 does not result in a
common binomial factor, try different grouping
Factor by grouping

Review 3a Review 3b

2𝑥 + 6 + 𝑎𝑥 + 3𝑎 𝑚2 + 2𝑚 + 5𝑚 + 10

= 2𝑥 + 6 + 𝑎𝑥 + 3𝑎

= 2𝑥 + 6 + 𝑎𝑥 + 3𝑎

=2 𝑥+3 +𝑎 𝑥+3

= 𝑥+3 2+𝑎
Factor by grouping

Review 3c

𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 − 5𝑥 − 15 = 𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 − 5𝑥 − 15 GCF of whole expression is 1

Always use “+” sign as separator of
groups

= 𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 + −5𝑥 − 15 Group the terms

=𝑥 𝑥+3 −𝟓 𝑥+3 Factor out GCF for each group

= 𝑥−𝟓 𝑥+3 Factor out common binomial

factor 𝑥 + 3.
Factor by grouping

Review 3d

𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 𝑥 + 2 = 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 𝑥 + 2 GCF of whole expression is 1

= 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 𝑥 + 2 Group the terms

=𝑥 𝑥+2 +1 𝑥+2 Factor out GCF for each group

= 𝑥+1 𝑥+2 Factor out common binomial

factor 𝑥 + 2

Caution ! Be sure to
include the term 1
 Factoring 𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐

Find two integers whose product is c and whose sum is b

1. Both integers must be positive if b and c are positive

2. Both integers must be negative if c is positive and b is negative

3. One integer must be positive and one must be negative if c is negative

𝑥 2 + 11𝑥 + 30 𝑥 2 − 7𝑥 + 25 𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 − 18 𝑥 2 − 7𝑥 − 18
When factoring always look for a common factor first. Remember to
include the common factor as part of the answer. As check,
multiply out the factored form should always give the original
polynomial

3𝑥 2 + 33𝑥 + 90
Guide
Multiply the Following

2𝑥 + 3 𝑥 + 2
Factoring Trinomials by Grouping (AC Method)
Example 1a
a c Step 1: Multiply AC, 𝑎 × 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑐
Factor
2𝑥 2 + 𝟕𝑥 + 6 2 6 = 12
Step 2: Find the factors of 12 whose sum is 7
F O I L

= 2𝑥 2 + ___𝑥 + ___𝑥 + 6 Pairs Factors of 𝟔 Sum of Factors

1 12 13
= 2𝑥 2 + 𝟑𝒙 + 𝟒𝒙 + 6 The numbers
2 6 8 we seek
= 2𝑥 2 + 𝟑𝒙 + 𝟒𝒙 + 6 𝟑 𝟒 𝟕 are 3 𝑎𝑛𝑑 4
= 𝑥 2𝑥 + 3 + 2 2𝑥 + 3 𝟑+𝟒=𝟕 b

= 𝑥 + 2 2𝑥 + 3 𝟑 𝟒 = 𝟏𝟐 ac

Since all terms are positive we will use positive

factors only
Factoring Trinomials by Grouping (Shortcut)
Example 1a
Factor Step 1: Multiply AC, 𝑎 × 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑐
a c 2 6 = 12
2𝑥 2 + 𝟕𝑥 + 6
Step 2: Find the factors of 12 whose sum is b=7
= 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟐 Since all terms are
𝟑+𝟒=𝟕 b
positive we will use
positive factors only 𝟑 𝟒 = 𝟏𝟐 ac

Step 3a: Use 3 and 4 as Step 3b : 2𝑥 2 → 2𝑥 as

Numerator Denominator

𝟑 4 𝟐
=
𝟐𝒙 2𝑥 𝐱
Step 4: use the format 𝐷 + 𝑁 𝐷 + 𝑁
Step 4: use the format 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟐
Factoring Trinomials by Grouping (AC Method)
Example 1b
a c Step 1: Multiply AC, 𝑎 × 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑐
Factor
6𝑥 2 +𝑥 −1 6 −1 = −6
6𝑥 2 + 1𝑥 − 1
Step 2: Find the factors of -6 whose sum is 1

Pairs Factors of 𝟔 Sum of Factors

F O I L
6 −1 5 The numbers we
= 6𝑦 2 + ___𝑥 + ___𝑥 −1 −6 1 −5 seek
are 3 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 2
= 6𝑦 2 + 𝟑𝑦 − 2𝑦 − 1 3 −2 1
−3 2 −1
= 6𝑦 2 + 𝟑𝑦 + −2𝑦 − 1
= 3𝑦 2𝑦 + 3 − 1 2𝑦 + 1 𝟑 + (−𝟐) = 𝟏 b

= 2𝑦 + 1 3𝑦 − 1 𝟑 −𝟐 = −𝟔 ac

Since ac is negative we use positive and negative

factors
Factoring Trinomials by Grouping (Shortcut)
Example 1b
Factor Step 1: Multiply AC, 𝑎 × 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑐
a c 6 −1 = −6
6𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 1 Step 2: Find the factors of -12 whose sum is b=1
6𝑥 2 + 1𝑥 − 1 Since all terms are
(−𝟐) + 𝟑 = 𝟏 b
positive we will use
positive factors only −𝟐 𝟑 = −𝟔 ac
= 𝟑𝒙 − 𝟏 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏
Step 3a: Use -2 and 3 as Step 3b : 6𝑥 2 → 6𝑥 as
Numerator Denominator

−𝟐 −𝟏 3 𝟏
= =
𝟔𝒙 𝟑𝒙 6𝑥 𝟐𝐱
Step 4: use the format 𝐷 + 𝑁 𝐷 + 𝑁
= 𝟑𝒙 − 𝟏 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏
Example 1c
Factor
8𝑥 2 − 10𝑥 − 3
Factoring Trinomials by Grouping (Shortcut)
Example 1a
Factor Step 1: Multiply AC, 𝑎 × 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑐
a c 8 3 = −24
8𝑥 2 − 10𝑥 − 3 Step 2: Find the factors of 24 whose sum is -10
Since all terms are 𝟐 −𝟏𝟐 = −𝟐𝟒 ac
= 𝟒𝒙 − 𝟑 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟏 positive we will use
−𝟏𝟐 + 𝟐 = −𝟏𝟎 b
positive factors only

Step 3a: Use −𝟏𝟐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝟐 as Step 3b : 8𝑥 2 → 8𝑥 as

Numerator Denominator

−12 −𝟑 2 𝟏
= =
8𝑥 𝟒𝒙 8𝑥 𝟒𝐱
Step 4: use the format 𝐷 + 𝑁 𝐷 + 𝑁

𝟒𝒙 − 𝟑 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟏
Example 1a
Factor
8𝑥 2 + 14𝑥 + 5
Example 2a
Factor
10𝑥 + 8 − 3𝑥 2 −3𝑥 2 + 10𝑥 + 8
Factor using AC method
Practice 1a Practice 2a
Factor Factor
8𝑥 2 + 6𝑥 − 9 15𝑥 2 + 17𝑥 + 2
All terms positive (Shortcut)
Practice 1c Practice 2d
Factor Factor: (Factor out GCF 1st )
−12𝑥 2 − 𝑥𝑦 − 20𝑦 2 −18𝑥 3 − 48𝑥 2 + 66𝑥
Factoring a𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 where 𝑎 ≠ 1 Factor
1. Factor out Greatest Common Factor
7𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 + 1
2. Find the product of 𝒂𝒄
3. Find two integers whose product is 𝒂𝒄
and whose sum is b.
4. Rewrite the middle term bx , as sum or
difference using the factors found in ste
5. Factor by Grouping
◦ Both integers must be positive if b and c are
positive
◦ Both integers must be negative if c is positive and b
is negative
◦ One integer must be positive and one must be
negative if c is negative.
When factoring always 24𝑥 2 − 42𝑥 + 9
look for a common factor
first. Remember to include
the common factor as part
of the answer. As check,
multiply out the factored
form should always give
the original polynomial
“The only way to
learn mathematics is
to do mathematics”
Objectives
❑To be able to factor trinomials with a coefficient of
1 for the squared term. 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 , where
𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 1

❑Factor such polynomials after factoring out the

greatest common factor
 References Thank you!
Additional Content
https://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/factoring-quadratics.html
Shortcut It!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp5g8pcdOFo
Introduction to Factoring Trinomial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_yrM-RVCJ8&t=214s
The Berry Method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqohYwpih8U&list=RDCMUC28MYq5TxXKT4
qDYg6aMQiA&index=2