How will GCF be useful in finding the factors of a certain polynomials?
How will GCF be useful in finding the factors of a certain polynomials?
- Find the GCF of all the terms in the polynomial.
- Express each term as a product of the GCF and another factor.
- Use the distributive property to factor out the GCF.
Why do you factor out the GCF?
When we factor, we divide out whatever the greatest common factor is. Factoring undoes multiplication. So when we find the greatest common factor, we divide it out in each term.