Question 203311: I need help with factoring polynomials
Answer by PRMath(133)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! That's a pretty broad question! :-)
Maybe you can send some examples of what confuses you. When someone answers a specific question, it helps with the understanding. In the meantime tho, I can give you the following info with regard to factoring polynomials.......
When you factor, you look for factors common to EVERY term in the equation. For example:
in this equation....  .... you have to ask yourself: "What is common to  AND common to the  also?"
Do you see that the number 4 is common to both? SO... what you do is sort of "take out" the 4 and put it in front of a parenthesis, to "announce" (so to speak) that you are dividing 4 from the entire equation.
It's like this... 
The numbers in the parenthesis came when you made these divisions:
 and  .
Sometimes tho, you can divide out more than one common factor. For example, in this problem............
 .......... can you see that 5 is common to 5 and to 20?
BUT - can you also see that  is also common to the  and to the  ?
SO, let's "take out" or more specifically, let's divide  from the whole equation, k?
The above came when you made these divisions:
 along with 
These are fairly simple factoring problems. They can get more tricky but it's not clear at what level you get confused. So again, I suggest you submit a problem you are struggling with, along with the steps you have taken to solve the problem. Then your mistakes (if you make any) can be corrected.
I hope this helps you. :-)
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