SOLUTION: I am totally lost on this problem, please explain and show the steps. Here is the problem: 2m^2n^2 - 32mn^2 + 8m^2 - 128 I thought the factor of this expression would be "2"

You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You did the first step right--you factored out the common factor of 2:



However what remains is something with 4 terms that factors by "grouping." From the first two terms, take out an , and from the last two terms, take out a 4.


At this point, I suspect that you copied the problem right. In order to factor by grouping, you MUST have a common factor after you do the grouping and factor as we did here. As you can see, this is NOT the case, because of the extra m in the first grouping. Let me suggest what I think the problem should have been:




Now you can take out the common factor, which is


Last, factor the which is the difference of two squares:


R^2 at SCC