Summary: Solving Simple Polynomial Equations
Key Concepts
- Find the greatest common factor.
- Factor each coefficient into primes. Write all variables with exponents in expanded form.
- List all factors—matching common factors in a column. In each column, circle the common factors.
- Bring down the common factors that all expressions share.
- Multiply the factors.
- Distributive Property
- If , , are real numbers, then and
- Factor the greatest common factor from a polynomial.
- Find the GCF of all the terms of the polynomial.
- Rewrite each term as a product using the GCF.
- Use the Distributive Property ‘in reverse’ to factor the expression.
- Check by multiplying the factors.
Glossary
- greatest common factor
- The greatest common factor (GCF) of two or more expressions is the largest expression that is a factor of all the expressions.
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