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Practice Factoring
ax
2
+
bx
+
c
’s
– 2010
1 Factoring expressions of the form
ax
2
+
bx
+
c
1.1 Factoring out the GCF
Sometimes expressions of the form
ax
2
+
bx
+
c
can be factored so that one factor is of the form
x
2
+
bx
+
c
which we know how to factor by the Sum/Product Rule. Here are a few examples:
•
Factor 2
x
2
+ 14
x
+ 242
x
2
+ 14
x
+ 24 = 2(
x
2
+ 7
x
+ 12= 2(
x
+ 3)(
x
+ 4)
•
Factor
−
3
x
3
y
−
33
x
2
y
−
54
xy
−
3
x
3
y
−
33
x
2
y
−
54
xy
=
−
3
xy
(
x
2
+ 11
x
+ 18)=
−
3
xy
(
x
+ 2)(
x
+ 9)
Your turn, factor:1.
−
6
x
2
−
90
x
−
300 2. 7
x
2
+ 98
x
+ 343 3. 2
x
2
+ 10
x
−
72
1.2 Sometimes you can’t factor out a GCF, and you have to “split the middle”
When you factor by “splitting the middle” you are relying on the fact that when an expression like(2
x
+ 3)(3
x
−
5) is partially simplified into 6
x
2
−
10
x
+ 9
x
−
15 the product of the two middle terms(
−
10
x
)
·
(9
x
) is equal to the product of the two outer terms (6
x
2
)
·
(
−
15). Namely they are both equal to
−
90
x
2
in this case. But generally this is always true. A proof of this is not beyond our reach, so it’s agood thing for you to think about - why is this true?“Split the Middle.” Notice that the example above (2
x
+ 3)(3
x
−
5) in it’s simplest form is 6
x
2
−
x
−
15after we combine the two, like, middle terms. To factor 6
x
2
−
x
−
15 we must split the middle back to6
x
2
−
10
x
+ 9
x
−
15 and then factor by grouping. The entire process is below
6
x
2
−
x
−
15 = 6
x
2
−
10
x
+ 9
x
−
15 Split the middle= (6
x
2
−
10
x
) + (9
x
−
15) Group so no group’s GCF is 1= 2
x
(3
x
−
5) + 3(3
x
−
5) Factor out the GCF= (3
x
−
5)(2
x
+ 3) Factor out (3
x
−
5) from each term
Now we’ll try a real example. Factor 4
x
2
+ 8
x
+ 3
4
x
2
+ 8
x
+ 3 = 4
x
2
+ 6
x
+ 2
x
+ 3 Notice (6
x
)(2
x
) = (4
x
2
)(3)= (4
x
2
+ 2
x
) + (6
x
+ 3) Group so no group’s GCF is 1= 2
x
(2
x
+ 1) + 3(2
x
+ 1)= (2
x
+ 1)(2
x
+ 3)
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