Factoring

Factoring is basically unmultiplying

In otherwords youcan multiply 3.5 toget 15 andyou
can factor 15 to get 3.5
Factoring af polynomials is a means of simplifying
many
expressions and of solving certaintypesof equations

Factoring Using The Greatest Common Factor

Thismethodutilizes the largest factor that divides into
everything evenly

ex Factor out the greatestcommonfactor

a 12r 9k

b 75hr2 I00h2

c Gm't 9hr3 t 12m2

d 3 2kt 113 t 4 2kt 174

Factor
by Grouping
To factorbygrouping grouptogetherthepolynomialterms
that have common factors
Then find the greatest commonfactor in eachof the
two groupings

The expression will produce two teams with a common

greatest common factor ax b Factor the
expression using the method previously described in
the last technique

2
ex Factor 3 3 t 15 t 2x t 10
 3
ex Factor 96X t 36 160 X 60
Factoring Quadratics
If youmultiply two first degreepolynomials the result
is a quadratic
Forexample by FOILing yousee that
Xt 1 x 2 X 2x X Z XZ X z

Since factoring is the reverse of multiplication

factoring requires using FOIL backwards

ex Factor t r t 10
ex Factor 122 4 3

ex Factor
y2tGyt8
 Whathappens if the coefficient of the quadraticterm is not I

Well the factoringtechnique described in the problems before

will not work

Instead factor
by using the AC method

2
ex Factorthe expression 2 t 17X t 36
ex Factor the expression 4y2 Hy G

ex Factor the expression 8 2

2xy 3yZ

ex Factorthe 6 2
41 30
expression
Common Factoring Patterns
In some cases can factor a
you polynomial with a minimum
amount of guesswork
by
recognizing common patterns

Pattern I The Difference of Squares

XZ x x
y y y

ex Factorthe WZ 36
expression

Factor the expression 2

4 81
 2
ex Factor the expression 98 200

Factor the expression 2

ex t 100
y

ex Factor the
expression
Xt 312 64
Pattern 2 The Sumand Difference of Perfect Squares
2
It 2xy t x
y
y
XZ 2x
y t
y
X
y 12
Whenever have a quadratic whose first and lastterms
you are
squares it
may factor as a perfect square Thekey is to
look at the middle term To have a perfect square whose first
and last terms are XZ and the middle term must be
y2
2xy To avoid errors always check this

ex Factorthe expression 4hr2 t 4in t I

ex Factor the
expression 2522 8oz t t 64 t2

2
ex Factorthe
expression
9 15 25
Pattern 3 The Sumand Difference of Cubes
3
x y3 x't
x
y xyty2
x X
y Xty Xy yZ

ex Factorthe expression X t 64

ex Factor the expression 24 3 375

Factoring HigherDegree Polynomials

Polynomials af degree greaterthan 2 are

usually difficult to factor
However factoring is possible combining the techniques
discussed
by
in this section

ex Factor the expression 4x4 64

ex Factorthe expression XG I