SOLUTION: HI everyone long time no see. I am currently having problems with factoring at school. Here is the problem i have to factor W2+10w+16 of course the 2 after the W is to the power o

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Question 221647: HI everyone long time no see. I am currently having problems with factoring at school.
Here is the problem i have to factor W2+10w+16 of course the 2 after the W is to the power of type of 2. How is this done? Why is there a capital W and a little one too w? Please help me figure this one out please and thanks.
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
factor W^2+10w+16
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The capital W and the small w have no particular meaning.
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To factor, think of two numbers whose product is 16 and whose sum is 10.
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The numbers are 8 and 2.
So replace 10w by 8w + 2w to get:
w^2 + 8w + 2w + 16
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Factor the 1st two and the last two terms separately to get:
w(w+8) +2(w+8)
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Factor again to get the final answer:
(w+8)(w+2)
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This procedure is called the AC Method.
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Cheers,
Stan H.