This week in math I learned how to factor a polynomial, basically getting what you had to multiply to get the polynomial you are factoring.

The first step into factoring a polynomial is by finding the GCF of the coefficients which would be 2 in this case as no higher number goes into both coefficients, then you look for common variables, the amount of each variable that is common between the two which would be here, now we write the GCF of the coefficients next to the common variables on the outside of a bracket, this is what were distributing to our polynomial answer.

Now to see what were distributing to, we divide each term in our polynomial by the common that they both have by dividing coefficients regularly and using exponent division law to handle the variables, then giving us our answer.

You can also check to see if your answer is correct by expanding the polynomial again, if it gives you the same polynomial as what you started with, you factored correctly.