Factors and Factoring

Definition Factoring is the process of reversing multiplication; that is, the process
of writing a polynomial as a product of two or more polynomials. These polynomials
in the product are called factors in the given polynomial.

Example In the expression, x 2  4 y 2  x  2 y x  2 y  , x  2 y and x  2 y are

the factors of x 2  4 y 2 .

Definition A polynomial whose only factors are 1 and itself is called prime or
irreducible.

Example The polynomials 5 x  7 and x 2  x  1 are prime.

Remark Factoring algebraic expressions is performed in several ways described

in the following discussion. Assume that u and v are any algebraic expressions
and a, b, c and d are rational constants.

If each term of the given polynomial contains a common factor, then

the following method is applicable:

Method 1: Factoring a Common Multiple

au  av  a u  v 

Example Factor the following completely:

1.  10 x 3 y 2 z 4  20 x 3 y 2 z 3  5 x 2 y 4 z 4  5 x 2 y 2 z 3 2 xz  4 x  y 2 z 
2. x 2 n  x 2 n  x n x n  x 2 x n  x n x n  x 2 
3. 2ax 2 x  2 y   4ay 2 x  2 y   8a 2 xx  2 y   x  2 y 2ax 2  4ay 2  8a 2 x 
 2a  x  2 y x 2  2 y 2  4ax 

Method 2: Difference of Two Squares

u 2  v 2  u  v u  v 

Example Factor the following completely:

 
1. 9  81m 2  9 1  9m 2   9 1  3m   9 1  3m 1  3m 
2 2
2. x 2 n  y 4 n  x n    y 2 n   x n  y 2 n x n  y 2 n 
2 2


3. a  2b 4  2c  d 2  a  2b 2  2c  d 2 
2

 
 a  2b   2c  d  a  2b   2c  d 
2 2

 
 a  2b   2c  d a  2b   2c  d
2 2

If there are two terms in a given polynomial and both terms are of power of 3,
then the following method is applicable:

Method 3: Sum and Difference of Two Cubes

u 3  v 3  u  v u 2  uv  v 2 
u 3  v 3  u  v u 2  uv  v 2 

Example Factor the following completely:

3  3 3 
3 2
27 3 
1. 8a  3  2a       2a   2a   2a      
3 3 2

b b  b    b   b  
 3  6a 9 
  2a   4a 2   
 b  b b2 

2  2 2 2 
3 2
8 2 
2. 1  9  1   3   1  3  1  1  3   3  
3

x  x   x   x  x  
 2  2 4
 1  3  1  3  6 
 x  x x 
3. 27x  y 3  8x  y 3  3x  y 3  2x  y 3

 3x  y   2x  y  3x  y   3x  y   2 x  y   2 x  y 
2 2

 3 x  3 y  2 x  2 y 9x 2  2 xy  y 2   6x 2  y 2   4x 2  2 xy  y 2 
  x  5 y 9 x 2  18 xy  9 y 2  6 x 2  6 y 2  4 x 2  8 xy  4 y 2 
  x  5 y 19 x 2  10 xy  7 y 2 

If the given polynomial is a trinomial; that is, containing three terms, and the
first and last terms are perfect squares which make the given poynomial a perfect
trinomial, then the following method will be used:
 Method 4: Perfect Square Trinomial
u 2  2uv  v 2  u  v 
2

u 2  2uv  v 2  u  v 
2

Example Factor the following completely:

x 4  6 x 2 y 2  9 y 4  x 2   2x 2 3 y 2   3 y 2   x 2  3 y 2 
2 2 2
1.
2. 9 x 2  24 xy  16 y 2  3 x   23 x 4 y   4 y   3 x  4 y 
2 2 2

x 2 n  2 x n y n  y 2 n  x n   2x n  y n    y n   x n  y n 
2 2 2
3.

If the given polynomial is a trinomial, where the last term is constant, but not
a perfect square, then faactoring done by trial and error using the following method:

Method 5: Trinomial of the Form

u 2  a  b u  ab  u  a u  b 

Example Factor the following completely:

1. x 2  7 x  12
Solution: The problem here is to find two numbers a and b such that
their product ab  12 and a  b  7 . The factors of 12 are listed below in columns
and the values that give a  b  7 are a  3 and b  4 .

Factors of 12
Sum
a b
1 12 13
2 6 8
3 4 7
-1 -12 -13
-2 -6 -8
-3 -4 -7
Therefore, x 2  7 x  12  ( x  3)( x  4)
2. x 2 y 2  xy  20  xy  5xy  4 
3. y 2  2 y  8   y  4  y  2 

If the given polynomial is a trinomial where the constant coefficient of the first and
last terms are not perfect squares, then factoring is also done by trial and error using
the following method:

Method 6: Trinomial of the form

acu 2  ad  bc uv  bdv 2  au  bv cu  dv 

In checking for possible values of a, b, c and d , the following diagram is useful.

ac bd
a b bc

c d ad

Example Factor the following completely:

1. 15 x 2  7 xy  2 y 2  5 x  y 3 x  2 y 
Solution: We want to find a, b, c and d such that ac  15, bd  2 and ad  bc  7 .
Observe that the diagram below gives us 15 x 2  7 xy  2 y 2  5 x  y 3 x  2 y  .

15 2 6  20
5 1 bc  3 3 4 bc  8
 7   7
3 2 ad  10 2 5 ad   15

=7
2. 6 x 2  7 x  20  3 x  4 2 x  5
3. 9 x 2  25 xy  16 y 2  9 x  16 y x  y 
For a given polynomial with four terms, the following method is applicable.

Method 7: Perfect Cube Polynomial

u 3  3u 2 v  3uv 2  v 3  u  v 
3

u 3  3u 2 v  3uv 2  v 3  u  v 
3

Example Factor the following completely:

1. m 6  3m 4 n  3m 2 n 2  n 3  m 2   3 m 2  n  3 m 2 n 2  n 3  m 2  n 
3 2 3

u3 - 3 u2 v + 3 u v2 - v3 = (u - v)3

2. 27 a 3  27 a 2  9a  1  3a 3  33a 2 1  33a 12  13  3a  13

3. 8 x 3  36 x 2  54 x  27  2 x 3  32 x 2 3  32 x 32  33  2 x  32

If none of the seven methods work, then it is possible that the given polynomial can
not be factored or the following method is useful.

Method 8: Factoring by Grouping is the

process of factoring algebraic expressions which
can be put into one of the forms of the previous
methods by proper grouping of terms.

Example Factor the following completely:

1. x 2  2 x  1  y 2  x 2  2 x  1  y 2 Observe that we used here two
u2 - 2u v + v2 where u = x and v=1 methods,factoring a
a. Perfect square trinomial and
 x  1  y 2
2
b. Difference of two squares
(u-v)2
u2 - v2

 x  1  y x  1  y 
[u - v] [u + v]

 x  y  1 x  y  1
2. a 3  b 3  a  b  a 3  b 3   a  b  Take note that when a group of
u3 - v3 terms is preceded by a minus
sign, we need to change the
 a  b a 2  ab  b 2   a  b  operation inside the grouping
symbol.
(u - v) (u2 + uv + v2)

 a  b a 2  ab b 2 1
(a-b) here is a common factor of the two terms above

3. 16 x 2  8 xy  y 2  z 2  6 z  9  16 x 2  8 xy  y 2   z 2  6 z  9 
 4 x  y    z  3
2 2

 4 x  y   z  34 x  y    z  3

 4 x  y  z  34 x  y  z  3
4. ax  2ay  6by  3bx  ax  2ay   6by  3bx 
 a x  2 y   b6 y  3 x 
 a x  2 y   3b x  2 y 
 a x  2 y   3b x  2 y 
 x  2 y a  3b 

Observe that from method 4, a perfect square trinomial u  2uv  v can be

2 2

factored into u  v  and u  2uv  v can be factored into u  v  . The following

2 2 2 2

method applies if the given polynomial satisfies this condition.

Method 9: Factoring by completing the square:

If a given expression has first and third terms as
perfect squares, then the middle term will be
checked if it satisfies the condition of a perfect
square trinomial. If not, then the missing term will
be added and subtracted to the original expression
so that its value will not change.

Example Factor the following completely:

1. a  2a b  9b
4 2 2 4
 Solution: A perfect square involving a and 9b is
4 4
a 2
 3b 2   a 4  6a 2b 2  9b 4 .
2

So, a  2a b  9b becomes a perfect square if 4a b is added to it. But, so as

4 2 2 4 2 2

not to change the value of the original expression, we should also subtract 4a b .
2 2

Hence,
a 4  2a 2b 2  9b 4  a 4  2a 2b 2  9b 4  4a 2b 2   4a 2b 2
 a 4  6a 2b 2  9b 4   4a 2b 2

 a 2  3b 2   2ab 
2 2

 a 2  3b 2   2ab a 2  3b 2   2ab 

 a 2  2ab  3b 2 a 2  2ab  3b 2 

2. 16m  81m  16  16m  81m  16  49m  49m

4 2 4 2 2 2

 16m 4  81m 2  49m 2  16   49m 2

 16m 4  32m 2  16   49m 2

 4m 2  4   7 m 
2 2

 4m 2  4   7 m 4m 2  4   7 m 

 4m 2  7 m  4 4m 2  7 m  4 

3. x  4 y  x  4 x y  4 y  4 x y
4 4 4 2 2 4 2 2

 x 2  2 y 2  2  2 xy 
2

 x 2  2 y 2  2 xy x 2  2 y 2  2 xy 