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About LinkBacksHow do you factor?
The "rational root theorem" says that if m/n is a rational root of, then n evenly divides the "leading coefficient",
, and m evenly divides the constant term,
. Here, the leading coefficient is 1 so n must be 1 or -1 and the constant term is 4 so m must be 1, -1, 2, -2, 4, or -4. That means any rational root must be one of 1, -1, 2, -2, 4, or -4. Try each of those until you find one that makes the polynomial 0. For that a, x- a is a factor and you can divide the polynomial by x-a to find the other factor.
(If the polynomial does not have a rational root, it cannot be factored with integer coefficients.)
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Originally Posted by delgeezee 
