Factoring
Factor by extracting the greatest common factor.
Step 1 — Find the GCF of and : Factor each term: and . The only common factor is , so .
Step 2 — Rewrite each term as a product of the GCF: Express and , giving .
Step 3 — Apply the reverse Distributive Property: Factor out the : .
Step 4 — Check by multiplying: .
The factored form is . Notice that when one term of the polynomial is exactly the GCF itself (here, the constant ), the remaining factor for that term is — not . Writing the inside the parentheses is essential; omitting it would change the value of the expression.
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Ch.7 Factoring - Elementary Algebra @ OpenStax
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