Factoring

When an epidemic begins, epidemiologists ask where the disease started, how it is spreading, and what can be done to control it. They collect and analyze data to study the disease and possible control measures. Because diseases can spread at alarming rates, these scientists use mathematics—including factoring—to model their growth. In this chapter, you will learn how to factor expressions and apply factoring to real-life situations.

Sections

• Greatest Common Factor and Factor by Grouping — finding the greatest common factor of two or more expressions, factoring the greatest common factor from a polynomial, and factoring by grouping.
• Factor Trinomials — factoring trinomials with a leading coefficient of one and trinomials whose leading coefficient is not one.
• Factor Special Products — recognizing and factoring perfect-square trinomials and differences of squares, sums of cubes, and differences of cubes.
• General Strategy for Factoring Polynomials — choosing and applying an efficient, systematic strategy for factoring polynomials completely.
• Polynomial Equations — solving polynomial equations by using the Zero Product Property and applying those equations to problems.

This chapter overview is adapted from Intermediate Algebra 2e, Chapter 6 Introduction by Lynn Marecek and Andrea Honeycutt Mathis, © OpenStax, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Access the original for free at openstax.org. Changes: condensed the chapter introduction and recast the chapter outline as a section list.