Factoring Polynomials

One concept that stumped me at first this week was finding the GCF while factoring polynomials.

*Side Note: factoring polynomials = the opposite of multiplying polynomials, so we put the brackets back in the question!

In this question during the lesson, we were asked to find the factored form of: 12ab +

After I could visualize the common factors the two terms had in the venn diagram, it became instantly easier to find the GCF.

After we find the GCF, we divide it by both terms, and put the answer with the coefficient of 3ab. This is equal to our original binomial because it is the opposite of what we were doing in our last unit.