FACTORISING 1

Expand 3(2x  5)  6x 15

Factorising is the reverse of expanding.

expand

3(2x  5)  6x  15

factorise
Examples
1 Factorise 5x  10

First find the HCF of 5x and 10.

x  2
The HCF is 5.
5 5x  10

Answer: 5x  10  5(x  2)
Examples
2 Factorise 2x  6

First find the HCF of 2x and 6.

x  3
The HCF is 2.
2 2x  6

Answer: 2x  6  2(x  3)
Examples
3 Factorise 6x  9

First find the HCF of 6x and 9.

2x  3
The HCF is 3.
3 6x  9

Answer: 6x  9  3(2x  3)
Examples
4 Factorise x 2  3x

First find the HCF of x2 and 3x.

x  3
The HCF is x.
x x 2  3x

Answer: x 2  3x  x(x  3)
Examples
5 Factorise 8x 2  20x

First find the HCF of 8x2 and 20x.

2x  5
The HCF is 4x.
4x 8x 2  20x

Answer: 8x 2  20x  4x(2x  5)

Examples
6 Factorise 15x 2 y  9xy  12x 2 y 3

First find the HCF of

15x2y, 9xy and 12x2y3.
2
5x  3  4xy
The HCF is 3xy.
3xy 15x 2 y  9xy  12x 2 y 3

Answer: 15x 2 y  9xy  12x 2 y 3  3xy(5x  3  4xy 2 )

Examples
7 Factorise x(x  3)  2(x  3)

First find the HCF of x(x + 3)

and 2(x + 3).
x  2
The HCF is (x + 3).
x  3 x(x  3)  2(x  3)

Answer: x(x  3)  2(x  3)  (x  3)(x  2)

Examples
8 Factorise 2x  10  xy  5y

Factorise the first two terms and then

 2(x  5)  y(x  5) the last two terms.

 (x  5)(2  y ) The HCF of the two terms is (x − 5).

Factorisation can be used to simplify algebraic expressions.
Examples

1 Simplify x 2  3x
x

x 2  3x
factorise the numerator
x
1x (x  3)
 divide numerator and denominator by x
x
1
 x3
Examples

2 Simplify 15x  10
20

15x  10
factorise the numerator
20
15 (3x  2)
 divide numerator and denominator by 5
20
4
3x  2

4
Examples

3 Simplify xy
8x  8y

xy
factorise the denominator
8x  8y
1 xy
 divide numerator and denominator by (x + y)
8 (x  y)
1
1

8
Examples
2
4 Simplify x  2xy
4x 2  8xy

x 2  2xy
factorise the numerator, factorise the denominator
4x 2  8xy
1 1
x (x  2y)
 divide numerator and denominator by x and (x + 2y)
4x (x  2y )
1 1
1

4