All Algebra II Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #111 : Factoring Polynomials
Factor .
The first thing we can do is factor a out of both terms:
Now we can see that each term is the square of something simpler:
We can use our squared terms formula to solve:
Example Question #111 : Factoring Polynomials
Factor
1) In order to start factoring we first want to see if the expression is divisible by any common factor. This allows to greatly simplify factoring in expressions and equations where polynomials have large coefficients.
In this case
is divisible by two, so it can be simplified to
When pulling out a number/factoring you should make sure that the simplified expression is equivalent to the unsimplified expression by doing the reverse of the operation given previously. In this case the can be simplified to by simply distributing the two.
2) With the next step is to look at how you can simplify the expression such that when multiplied out will given . Thinking about this you want a number that can multiply to 15 (the constant) but add up to 2 (the coefficient of the x-term). and will provide you this, so you can substitute them into the expression where the blanks are.
3) The expression can now be simplified to , which is your final answer. The equivalency to its unfactored form can be checked through multiplying everything out and if the factored answer is correct it'll given the initial expression, otherwise you did something wrong in your operations and should double check each step.
Example Question #113 : Factoring Polynomials
Factor:
The simplest way to solve this problem is to identify that it is a difference of two perfect squares. Recall that the factors of are and .
Looking back at our original function, we can see that both of our terms are perfect squares - is a perfect square because and is a perfect square because .
Therefore, we can treat as , meaning that , and as , meaning that , resulting in the factored form
.
Example Question #114 : Factoring Polynomials
Factor the following polynomial:
The polynomial cannot be factored
The correct answer is . Because the constant is negative, the answer must contain terms with positive and negative constants, thus ruling out , which would result in a positive coefficient. The answer choice can be ruled out because the factored out polynomial results in a , not a . Therefore, the correct answer choice is, which can be confirmed if multiplied out.
Example Question #161 : Intermediate Single Variable Algebra
Factor
Cannot be factored further.
This problem is an example of a difference of squares. The formula for such a problem is . In this problem corresponds to and corresponds to . Therefore, the solution is .
Example Question #161 : Intermediate Single Variable Algebra
Simplify
None of the other answers
Answer cannot be simplified further.
When working with problems like these, you want to put the monomials in a standard format with the highest ordered terms on the left.
So the denominator should read:
The entire expression will then read:
Then factor out a from the equation so it reads
The like terms then cancel leaving .
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