10/16/2014 O Level Maths Notes - Factorising General Quadratics and Differences of Squares

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Factorising General Quadratics and
Differences of Squares
O Level Maths Notes: Factorising General Quadratics and Differences of Squares
Any expression of the form cannot always be factorised as with simple
quadratics, by finding factors of c. Instead there is a slightly more complicated
procedure, best illustrated by an example:
Factorise
1. Take out any common factor. Every term in the above expression has a factor 3, so
we may write the expression as
2. Multiply the coefficient of by the constant term: Find the two
factors of this product which add to give the coefficient of which in this case is
-1.
Example
Factorise
1. Multiply the coefficient of by the constant term:F ind the two factors
of this product which add to give the coefficient of which in this case is -7: -1
and -6.
Differences of Squares
Any expression of the form can be factorised almost instantly:
Example:
Example:
10/16/2014 O Level Maths Notes - Factorising General Quadratics and Differences of Squares
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