SOLUTION: Factor: a^2+b^2-2ab+3b-3a-4

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Question 257078: Factor:
a^2+b^2-2ab+3b-3a-4
Answer by drk(1908) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First, lets rearrange the terms as
%28a%5E2+-2ab+%2B+b%5E2%29 +%283b+-+3a+%2B+4%29
The left side is just a perfect square trinomial and is factored as
%28a-b%29%5E2
the right side has a common factor of 3 for two terms and can be factored as
-3%28a-b%29+%2B+4
putting these back together, we get
%28a-b%29%5E2+-3%28a-b%29+%2B+4
Now we have general factoring as
%28a-b+-4%29%28a-b+%2B+1%29