Thread: Factorising explaination

I've just been doing some revising and I came across a couple of factorisation questions that im not quite sure how to work out.



and



So if anyone could explain how to do them it would be really useful.

Originally Posted by Local_lunatic

I've just been doing some revising and I came across a couple of factorisation questions that im not quite sure how to work out.



and



So if anyone could explain how to do them it would be really useful.

hello,

I assume that you mean: . This is a difference of squares which can be factored to:



. Factor out (?) the common factor. You get the result in the bracket by dividing each summand by the factor in front of the bracket:

Originally Posted by earboth

hello,

I assume that you mean: . This is a difference of squares which can be factored to:



. Factor out (?) the common factor. You get the result in the bracket by dividing each summand by the factor in front of the bracket:

That's the answer I got for the second one too, but the book had a different one. Actually, the answer comes to the same thing it's just written differently.



Which one am I meant to do in a test?

Are you sure it doesn't say ? You wouldn't wanna make a typo like that on a test (I have done it before and lost 5 points for one sign so watch for it)

Originally Posted by Local_lunatic

That's the answer I got for the second one too, but the book had a different one. Actually, the answer comes to the same thing it's just written differently.



Which one am I meant to do in a test?

If the question asks you to factorise something full marks will be given
for as complete a factorisation as possible under the constraints you
are expected to observe (probably factors with real coefficients).

RonL