FACTORING BY THE

GREATEST COMMON
FACTOR

Perlita B. De Castro
Math 8
College of Our Lady of Mercy of Pulilan Foundation, Inc.
S.Y. 2023 - 2024
FACTORING BY THE
GREATEST COMMON
FACTOR
 At the end of the lesson, the students are
expected to:

• factor completely different types of

polynomials with a common monomial factor;
• factor completely different types of
polynomials with a common binomial factor;
• factor completely by grouping; and
• solve problems involving factors of
polynomials.
• Factoring is the process of
writing polynomials as a
product of two or more
numbers or terms.
• Greatest Common Factor
• Prime Factor
• Monomial
• Polynomial
• Standard form
• The process of writing a polynomial by
factoring out a monomial factor common
to all the terms is called common monomial
factoring.
• If each of the factors cannot be factored
any further, then we say that the
polynomial is factored completely.
Steps in Factoring Polynomials
with a Common Monomial
Factor
Step 1: Identify the greatest common factor (GCF) of the
numerical coefficients.
Step 2: Identify the literal coefficient with the least exponent.

Step 3: Identify the CMF. Combining the answers in steps 1

and 2.
Step 4: Use CMF to divide each term of the polynomial to
obtain the other factor.
 Common Monomial
Factoring
• In the polynomial 𝒂 𝒃 + 𝒄 + 𝒃(𝒃 + 𝒄), the
binomial (𝒃 + 𝒄) is a common factor of the
terms. You can factor out the (𝒃 + 𝒄), so

𝒂 𝒃 + 𝒄 + 𝒃 𝒃 + 𝒄 = (𝒃 + 𝒄)(𝒂 + 𝒃)
Express as the product of two or more terms

𝟏. 𝟐𝒃 𝒙 + 𝟑 − 𝟓 𝒙 + 𝟑 =
𝟐. (𝒚 − 𝟐)(𝒎𝒏 + 𝟏) − (𝒏 − 𝟏) 𝒚 − 𝟐 =
𝟑. 𝒅 𝒂 + 𝒃 − 𝒄 + 𝟔 𝒂 + 𝒃 − 𝒄 =
 Factoring by Grouping
• There are instances when the terms of the
polynomial are not grouped in parentheses.
When factoring this kind of polynomial, the
terms with common factors are grouped
together so that the common factors in each
group can be factored out. This process is called
factoring by grouping.
 Steps in Factoring an
Expression by Grouping

Step 1: Group the first and last two terms of the

expression such that each group has a common factor.

Step 2: Factor each group.

Step 3: Factor out the common binomial.

 Factoring by Grouping
Factor the following:

𝟏. 𝒂𝒃 + 𝒂𝒄 + 𝟑𝒃 + 𝟑𝒄
𝟐 𝟑
𝟐. 𝒙𝒚 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝒚 + 𝟐𝒚
𝟐
𝟑. 𝟐𝒌𝒉 + 𝟔𝒉 − 𝒌 − 𝟑𝒌
 Factoring by Grouping
Factor the following:

𝟏. 𝒂𝒃 + 𝒂𝒄 + 𝟑𝒃 + 𝟑𝒄 = 𝒂𝒃 + 𝒂𝒄 + (𝟑𝒃 + 𝟑𝒄)

= 𝒂 𝒃 + 𝒄 + 𝟑(𝒃 + 𝒄)
= 𝒃 + 𝒄 (𝒂 + 𝟑)
 Factoring by Grouping
Factor the following:
𝟐 𝟑 𝟐 𝟑
𝟐. 𝒙𝒚 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝒚 + 𝟐𝒚 = 𝒙𝒚 − 𝟐𝒙 + (−𝒚 + 𝟐𝒚)
𝟐 𝟐
= 𝒙 𝒚 − 𝟐 + [ −𝒚 𝒚 − 𝟐 ]
𝟐
= 𝒚 − 𝟐 (𝒙 − 𝒚)
 Factoring by Grouping
Factor the following:
𝟐 𝟐
𝟑. 𝟐𝒌𝒉 + 𝟔𝒉 − 𝒌 − 𝟑𝒌 = 𝟐𝒌𝒉 + 𝟔𝒉 + (−𝒌 − 𝟑𝒌)

= 𝟐𝒉 𝒌 + 𝟑 + [ −𝒌 𝒌 + 𝟑 ]
= 𝒌 + 𝟑 (𝟐𝒉 − 𝒌)
 Answer Math Empowerment A,
B, C, and D on pages 7 &8.

A. Give the greatest common factor or the

Common Monomial Factor (CMF).
B. Complete the factored form of the given
polynomial.
C. Factor the polynomial if possible. Otherwise,
write prime.
D. Factor the polynomial by grouping.