 Factorization

Factoring
→ the process of finding the factors of a given product.
Note:
A polynomial is no longer factorable if:
✓ The coefficient have no common factor and
✓ It cannot be expressed as a product of two polynomials of lower degree.

I. COMMON MONOMIAL FACTOR

𝑎𝑥 + 𝑎𝑦 = 𝒂(𝒙 + 𝒚)
Steps:
✓ Fin the greatest common factor of all terms of the polynomial.
✓ Divide each term of the polynomial by this common factor.
✓ The quotient and the greatest common factorare the factorsof the given polynomial.
II. DIFFERENCE OF TWO SQUARES
𝑥 𝟐 − 𝑦 2 = (𝒙 + 𝒚)(𝒙 − 𝒚)
The factors of the difference of two squares are the sum and the difference of the square roots of it first
and second terms.
Note:
We have to continue factoring if the obtained factors are not yet primes.
III. PERFECT SQUARE TRINOMIAL
𝑥 2 + 2𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2 = (𝒙 + 𝒚)𝟐
𝑥 2 − 2𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2 = (𝒙 − 𝒚)𝟐
A trinomial is a perfect square trinomial if:
✓ The first and the last term are perfect squares, and
✓ The middle term is twice the product of the square roots of the first and the last terms. The factors of a
perfect square trinomial can be written as the square of the sum (difference) of the square roots of its
first and last terms.
IV. SUM OR DIFFERENCE OF TWO CUBES
𝑥 3 + 𝑦 3 = (𝒙 + 𝒚)(𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐 )
𝑥 3 − 𝑦 3 = (𝒙 − 𝒚)(𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐 )
Steps:
✓ The first factor is the sum or the difference of the cube root of the two terms.
✓ The second factor is a trinomial which can be determined by the following:
• The first term is the square of the first term of the factor.
• The middle term is the product of two first and second term of the first factor with the opposite
sign between terms.
• The last term is the square of the second term of the first factor.
V. GENERAL QUADRATIC TRINOMIAL
𝑥 2 + (𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑥 + 𝑎𝑏 = (𝒙 + 𝒂)(𝒙 + 𝒃)
Steps:
✓ Find two numbers which when multiplied is equal to the first term of the trinomial. They are the first
of the two factors.
✓ Find two numbers which when multiplied is equal to the last term of the trinomial. They are the last
terms of the two factors.

ENGG_GENMATH: GENERAL MATHEMATICS

1|Page
 ✓ They algebraic sum of the cross products of the terms in (1) and (2) must be the middle term of the
trinomial.
Note:
Try all possible pairs of factors of the first and the last terms until the right pair is found. This method
is sometimes called the trial and error method of finding the factors of a trinomial.
VI. FACTORING BY GROUPING
Frequently, the terms in a polynomial can be grouped in such a way that each grouped has a common
factor. To factor such polynomials, we begin by grouping those terms that have a common factor and
then use the distributive law to complete the factoring.
Examples:
a) 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 − 𝑎𝑦 − 𝑏𝑦 = (𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥) − (𝑎𝑦 + 𝑏𝑦) = 𝑥(𝑎 + 𝑏) − 𝑦(𝑎 + 𝑏) = (𝒂 + 𝒃)(𝒙 − 𝒚)
b) 𝑎𝑥 3 + 𝑏𝑥 3 + 𝑎𝑦 3 + 𝑏𝑦 3 = (𝑎𝑥 3 + 𝑏𝑥 3 ) + (𝑎𝑦 3 + 𝑏𝑦 3 ) = 𝑥 3 (𝑎 + 𝑏) + 𝑦 3 (𝑎 + 𝑏)
= (𝑎 + 𝑏)(𝑥 3 + 𝑦 3 ) = (𝒂 + 𝒃)(𝒙 + 𝒚)(𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝒚 + 𝒚𝟐 )
c) 1 + 𝑝𝑞 − 𝑝 − 𝑞 = (1 − 𝑞)(𝑝𝑞 − 𝑝) = (1 − 𝑞) + 𝑝(𝑞 − 1) = (1 − 𝑞) − 𝑝(1 − 𝑞)
= (𝟏 − 𝒒)(𝟏 − 𝒑)

Factor amd Remainder Theorems

✓ If a polynomial 𝑓(𝑥)is divided by 𝑥 − 𝑟, the Remainder (R) is equal to 𝑓(𝑟).
✓ If 𝑓(𝑥) is a polynomial and 𝑟 is a real number, then 𝑥 − 𝑟 is factor of 𝑓(𝑥) if and only if
𝑓(𝑟) = 0.
Examples:
a) Find the remainder when 𝑥 4 − 10𝑥 2 − 9𝑥 − 20 is divided by 𝑥 − 4

Solution: 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 4 − 10𝑥 2 − 9𝑥 − 20

𝑥 −𝑟 = 𝑟 −4 ;𝑟 = 4
𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 = 𝑓(4) = 44 − 10(4)2 − 9(4) − 20
𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 = 𝟒𝟎
b) Find k such that 𝑥 − 3 is a factor of 𝑘𝑥 3 − 6𝑥 2 + 2𝑘𝑥 − 12

Solution: 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 = 𝑓(3) = 𝑘(3)3 − 6(3)2 + 2𝑘(3) − 12 = 0

𝒌=𝟐

Binomial Theorems
→ the principle foe expanding the algebraic expression (𝑥 + 𝑦)𝑛 and expresses it as a sum of the terms
involving individual exponents of variables c and y.

General Equation:
𝒏(𝒏 − 𝟏) 𝒏−𝟐 𝟐 𝒏(𝒏 − 𝟏)(𝒏 − 𝟐) 𝒏−𝟑 𝟑
(𝒙 + 𝒚)𝒏 = 𝒙𝒏 + 𝒏𝒙𝒏−𝟏 𝒚𝟏 + 𝒙 𝒚 + 𝒙 𝒚 + ⋯ + 𝒏𝒙𝟏 𝒚𝒏−𝟏 + 𝒚𝒏
𝟐! 𝟑!
Note:
1) It start with 𝑥 𝑛 and ends with 𝑦 𝑛
2) The power of x decreases by 1 while the power of y increase by 1.
3) The sum of the power of x & y in any term is always n.
4) There will be 𝑛 + 1 terms in the expansion.
5) If the coefficient of a term and then the product divided by the power of y increases by 1, the
resulting number is the coefficient of the next term.

ENGG_GENMATH: GENERAL MATHEMATICS

2|Page
Pascal’s Triangle
→ used to determine the coefficients of the terms in a binomial expansion.

rth Term of Binomial Expansion

𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒊𝒏 (𝒂 + 𝒃)𝒏 = 𝑪(𝒏, 𝒎)𝒂𝒏−𝒎 𝒃𝒎
𝒏!
Where 𝒎 = 𝒓 − 𝟏 and 𝑪(𝒏, 𝒎) = (
𝒏−𝒎)!𝒎!
Example:
Find the 3rd term in the expansion of (𝑥 2 + 𝑦)5
Solution A: Using Pascal’s Triangle
(𝑥 2 + 𝑦)5 = (𝑥 2 )5 + 5(𝑥 2 )4 𝑦 + 10(𝑥 2 )3 𝑦 2
= 𝑥 10 + 5𝑥 8 𝑦 + 𝟏𝟎𝒙𝟔 𝒚𝟐
Solution B: Using rth term of binonmial expansion
𝑚
𝑟 𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝐶(𝑛, 𝑚)𝑎𝑛−𝑚 𝑏 ; 𝑛 = 5 ∶ 𝑚 = 𝑟 − 1 = 3 − 1 = 2 ∶ 𝑟 = 3 ; 𝑎 = 𝑥2 ; 𝑏 = 𝑦
3𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝐶(5,2)(𝑥 2 )5−2 (𝑦)2 = 𝟏𝟎𝒙𝟔 𝒚𝟐

Coefficient of Next Term

(𝒄𝒐𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎)(𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒙)
𝑪=
(𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚) + 𝟏
Example:
Expand completely the expression (𝑥 + 𝑦)8
Solution:
By the principle, the first term is 𝑥 8 , the second term is 8𝑥 2 𝑦. The variable part of the third term is
𝑥 6 𝑦 2,
8(7)
The coefficient of the third term is, 𝐶3 = = 28
1+1
3𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 28𝑥 6 𝑦 2
28(6) 5 3
4𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑥 𝑦 = 56𝑥 5 𝑦 3
2+1
56(5) 4 4
5𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑥 𝑦 = 70𝑥 4 𝑦 4
3+1
Therefore, (𝑥 + 𝑦) = 𝒙 + 𝟖𝒙𝟕 𝒚 + 𝟐𝟖𝒙𝟔 𝒚𝟐 + 𝟓𝟔𝒙𝟓 𝒚𝟑 + 𝟕𝟎𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟒 + 𝟓𝟔𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟓 + 𝟐𝟖𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟔 + 𝟖𝒙𝒚𝟕 + 𝒚𝟖
8 𝟖

Sum of Coefficient of Variables

→ to get the sum of the coefficient in the expansion of (𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑦 + ⋯ )𝑛 , substitute 1 to each of the
variables x,y….

Example:
a) Find the sum of the coefficient of the variables in the expansion of (2𝑥 + 3𝑦 − 𝑧)8
Solution:
𝑆𝑢𝑚 = [2(1) + 3(1) − 1]8 = 48 = 𝟔𝟓, 𝟓𝟑𝟔
b) Find the sum of the coefficient of the variables in the expansion of (3𝑥 − 5)6
Solution:
Note that the last term in the expansion of (3𝑥 − 5)6 is constant and is equal to (−5)6 = 15,625. This
value must be subtracted from the result after substituting 1 for the variable x.
𝑆𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 = [3(1) − 5]6 − (−5)6 = −𝟏𝟓, 𝟓𝟔𝟏

ENGG_GENMATH: GENERAL MATHEMATICS

3|Page