This week I learned all about factoring polynomials! Here’s how:
Example: Factor a simple trinomial ()!
Step 1:
First, imagine we are going to split the into two! We should start off with this:
( )( )
Step 2:
Inside the blank spaces in the brackets, there should be a number! To find these numbers, we look at the second and third term! What 2 numbers multiplies to 12 and adds up to 8? These two numbers are 2 and 6:
2 x 6 = 12
2 + 6 = 8
Our expression should look like this:
We have factored the polynomial!
Thanks for reading!