SOLUTION: How would you factor out the greatest common factor of this problem? 3a^3-27a^2-12a

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Question 123296: How would you factor out the greatest common factor of this problem?
3a^3-27a^2-12a
Found 2 solutions by stanbon, chitra:
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
factor out the greatest common factor of this problem?
3a^3-27a^2-12a
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3a(4a^2-9a-4)
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Cheers,
Stan H.

Answer by chitra(359) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The given expression is:

3a%5E3+-+27a%5E2+-+12a

Here we can observe that 3a can be takenn as a common factor.

So we can write this as:

3a[a^2 - 9a - 4]

Hence, 3a is the greatest common factor