Question 607737: can you explain to me how i would solve this i am so confused.
Factor completely: -12x3y5 - 9x2y2 + 12xy3?
thank you !!
Found 3 solutions by ewatrrr, jim_thompson5910, Alan3354:
Answer by ewatrrr(24785)   (Show Source):
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
 Start with the given expression.
 Factor out the GCF  .
Now let's try to factor the inner expression 
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Looking at the expression , we can see that the first coefficient is  , the second coefficient is  , and the last coefficient is  .
Now multiply the first coefficient by the last coefficient to get  .
Now the question is: what two whole numbers multiply to  (the previous product) and add to the second coefficient ?
To find these two numbers, we need to list all of the factors of (the previous product).
Factors of :
1,2,4,8,16
-1,-2,-4,-8,-16
Note: list the negative of each factor. This will allow us to find all possible combinations.
These factors pair up and multiply to .
1*(-16) = -16
2*(-8) = -16
4*(-4) = -16
(-1)*(16) = -16
(-2)*(8) = -16
(-4)*(4) = -16
Now let's add up each pair of factors to see if one pair adds to the middle coefficient :
| First Number | Second Number | Sum | | 1 | -16 | 1+(-16)=-15 | | 2 | -8 | 2+(-8)=-6 | | 4 | -4 | 4+(-4)=0 | | -1 | 16 | -1+16=15 | | -2 | 8 | -2+8=6 | | -4 | 4 | -4+4=0 |
From the table, we can see that there are no pairs of numbers which add to . So cannot be factored.
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Answer:
So simply factors to
In other words,  .
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Answer by Alan3354(69443)  (Show Source):
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