SOLUTION: Factor Completely. x^2 - 2x +1 I am having trouble solving this problem and need some help. Thanks

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Question 70970: Factor Completely. x^2 - 2x +1
I am having trouble solving this problem and need some help. Thanks
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We're looking for 2 numbers that add to -2 and multiply to 1. The only factors which multiply to 1 are: 1 and 1 (1*1=1), and -1 and -1 (-1*-1=1). If we add 1 and 1 we get 2, not -2, so these two don't work. If we add -1 and -1 we get -2, which works. So we then place these two numbers in parenthesis with x terms like so:
%28x-1%29%28x-1%29 If we FOIL this we get x%5E2+-+2x+%2B1} again
This can be also written as this
%28x-1%29%5E2