Engineering Mathematics
Factorisation
Semester 1 week 2
4
BEA_4_450
1
Overview
• Basics
1. Like Terms 2. Removing Brackets [Link] Equations
• Products and Factors
• An approach for factorisation
• Linear Equation (𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑐)
• Quadratic Equation (𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0)
1. Factors - Quadratic equations with no constant term (𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 = 0)
2. Factors - Quadratic equations with constant term (𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0)
• Factorising Quadratics by the product and sum method
• Quadratic equations factorised by general formulae
• Quadratic equations solved by completing the square
• Solving linear simultaneous equations using the elimination
method 3
An equation is a mathematical statement wherein
two expressions are set equal to each other.
Simple or Linear Equation: An equation is said to be linear, if
the highest power of the variable concerned in 1.
Example: 3x = 8 3x + 2y = 5, 5a + 3b + c = 7
Quadratic Equation: In a quadratic equation, the highest
power of x is 2 i.e. squared x2
Example: 2x2 + 7x + 13 = 0 4𝑎2 + 2𝑏 = 0
Cubic Equation: As the name suggests, a cubic equation is
one which degree 3.
Example: x3 + 8= 0 9x3 + 2x2 + 4x = 13
4
Basics
1. Like Terms: Like terms are collected together and simplified (like
addition and subtraction of like terms)
Try this now …
Example (i)
𝟒𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟓𝒙𝟐 + 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟒𝟎𝒙 + 𝟖𝒙𝒚
1st and 3rd terms have same 𝟒𝒙𝟐 , 𝟓𝒙𝟐 like terms because they both have x2
coefficient 𝟐𝒙 , 𝟔𝒙, 𝟒𝟎𝒙 because they both have x
𝟖𝒙𝒚 has no like terms that have both xy
𝟒𝒙𝟐 + 𝟓𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟒𝟎𝒙 + 𝟖𝒙𝒚
𝟗𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝟖𝒙 + 𝟖𝒙𝒚
5
Basics
2. Removing Brackets - rewrite the expression in an equivalent
form but without any brackets.
i. Removing brackets from expressions (The formula for
expanding a single bracket is)
and
Example (ii)
Try this now … Try this now …
6
Basics
ii. Removing brackets from expressions (expanding a double
bracket)
Example (iii)a Example (iii)b
Try this now …
Try this now … (𝒙 − 𝟓)𝟐
(𝒙 − 𝟓)𝟐 = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐 𝒙 𝟓 + 𝟓𝟐
= 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟏𝟎𝒙 + 𝟐𝟓
7
Basics
3. Rearranging Equations - rewrite the expression by
changing the subject.
Try this now …
Example (iv)a
Make 𝒂 the subject of the formula
Make m the subject of the
formula 𝒏𝟐 + 𝒂
𝒑=
𝒏+𝒂
𝟐(𝟐𝒑 + 𝒎) = 𝟑 − 𝟓𝒎
𝒑 × (𝒏 + 𝒂) = 𝒏𝟐 + 𝒂
𝟐 × 𝟐𝒑 + 𝟐 × 𝒎 = 𝟑 − 𝟓𝒎 𝒑 × 𝒏 + 𝒑 × 𝒂 = 𝒏𝟐 + 𝒂
𝟒𝒑 + 𝟐𝒎 = 𝟑 − 𝟓𝒎 𝒑𝒏 + 𝒑𝒂 = 𝒏𝟐 + 𝒂
𝟐𝒎 + 𝟓𝒎 = 𝟑 − 𝟒𝒑 𝒑𝒂 − 𝒂 = 𝒏𝟐 − 𝒑𝒏
𝟕𝒎 = 𝟑 − 𝟒𝒑 𝒂(𝒑 − 𝟏) = 𝒏(𝒏 − 𝒑)
𝟑 − 𝟒𝒑 𝒏(𝒏 − 𝒑)
𝒎= 𝒂=
8 𝟕 𝒑−𝟏
Products and Factors
• A number is said to be factorised when it is written as a product
(numbers that divide exactly into another number)
• Its a common part of two or more terms which make up an
algebraic expression.
Example Factors
21 can be factorised into 7 × 3 (7 × 3 = 21)
4 and 6 can factorised into 2 × 2 and 2 ×3 (common factor)
• Algebraic expressions can also be factorised.
Example
ab can be factorised into a x b (a × b = ab)
15y can be factorised into 3 × 5y (5 x 3y = 15y)
Example
10y and 15x share a common factor of 5 (2 × 5 × y and 3 × 5 × x)
Example 14x + 21 here 7 is a common factor of
4x + 21 = 7(2x) + 7(3) = 7(2x + 3) 9
An approach for Factorisation
Consider the expression 7(2x + 1). we can rewrite this as
7 2𝑥 + 1 = 7 2𝑥 + 7 1 = 14𝑥 + 7
OR
7 2𝑥 + 1 = 14𝑥 + 7
OR 14𝑥 + 7 = 7 2𝑥 + 1
The process of writing an expression as a product of its factors is
called factorisation.
Factorisation can be regarded as reversing the process of removing
bracket, i.e.
10
Factors - Simple / Linear Equation
Consider a simple linear equation as x+2=0
The value of x can simply be worked out without requiring factorisation.
𝑓 𝑥 =0 i.e. 2+𝑥 =0
Subtracting 2 from both sides 2+𝑥−𝟐=0−𝟐
𝒙 = −𝟐
Above equation is simplified without requiring factorization, its exponent
of x has value of 1. Try this now …
Example 8 Find ‘y’ 2𝑦 + 6 = 0 15𝑥 − 10 = 0
15𝑥 − 10 + 10 = +10
2𝑦 + 6 − 6 = 0 − 6
15𝑥 = 10
2𝑦 = −6
10 2
Divide both side by 2
−6 𝑥= =
𝑦= 15 3
2 𝟐
11 𝒚 = −𝟑 𝒙=
𝟑
Quadratic Equation
The name Quadratic comes from "quad" meaning square, because
the variable gets squared (like x2). A quadratic equation is in the
form below.
𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒂𝒙𝟐 + 𝒃𝒙 + 𝒄
Here a, b and c are known values. ’x’ is the variable or unknown
and can't be 0.
Example 9:
1) 𝟐𝒙𝟐 + 𝟓𝒙 + 𝟑 = 𝟎 Here a = 2, b = 5 and c = 3
2) x2 + 3x – 10 = 0 Here a = ?, b = ? and c = ?
Sometime you may find quadratic equation of the form
𝒙𝟐 − 𝟑𝒙 = 𝟎 Here a = ?, b = ? & c = ?
In this case Quadratic equations has c = 0, i.e. no constant term
12
Factors - Quadratic equations with no constant term
• In a quadratic expression, the highest power of variable x is x2
f (x) = x2 + 2x Here a = 1, b = 2 & c = 0
• The highest exponent (power) determine the number of FACTORS,
therefore number of possible values of x, above highest exponent in the
equation is “2” then the equation will have two factors
• 𝑻𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒙, 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒇 𝒙 =𝟎
How to solve Quadratic
𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 = 𝟎 eq with no constant term
𝒙. 𝒙 + 𝟐𝒙 = 𝟎
𝒙 𝒙+𝟐 =𝟎
So 𝒙 = 𝟎 and 𝒙+𝟐 =𝟎
𝒙+𝟐=𝟎 𝒐𝒓 𝒙 = −𝟐
So the two factors of above equation are ቊ 𝒙 = 𝟎
𝒙 = −𝟐 13
Example 10 c = 0 , no constant term
• If f(x) = x2 + 10x , find the values of x for f(x) = 0
𝑰𝒇 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝟎 ∴ 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟎𝒙 = 𝟎 Here a = 1, b = 10 and c = 0
• Since the highest exponent of x is “2”, this equation has two factors &
two solutions: How to solve Quadratic
eq with no constant term
𝑥. 𝑥 + 10. 𝑥 = 0
𝑖. 𝑒. 𝑥 𝑥 + 10 = 0
So x = 0 or (x+10) = 0
𝑥 + 10 = 0
𝑥 + 10 − 10 = 0 − 10
𝑥 = −10
So the two factors of above equations are → ቊ 𝑥=0
𝑥 = −10
14
Example 11 for you to try
Let f(x) = 2x2 + 7x what would be the value(s) of x, if f(x) = 0 ?
2x2 + 7x = 0
𝟐. 𝒙. 𝒙 + 𝟕. 𝒙 = 𝟎
How to solve Quadratic eq
with no constant term 𝒊. 𝒆. 𝒙 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟕 = 𝟎
∴ 𝒙=𝟎 & 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟕 = 𝟎
𝟕
𝒙=𝟎 & 𝒙=−
𝟐 𝒙=𝟎
→ 𝟕
𝒙 = −
𝟐
15
Quadratic equations which can be factorised-by-inspection
A quadratic expression can sometimes be factorised into two
brackets in the form of (x + a) (x + b) where a and b can be any
term, positive, negative or zero.
𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒂𝒙𝟐 + 𝒃𝒙 + 𝒄
Coefficient a and b can be found by using
a product and sum method
• The coefficient of x must split into two numbers; whose product
is “ac” i.e. (“a” times “c”) and whose sum is “b”
• To factorise above expression, we need to find two numbers that
have a product of +ac and a sum of +b. (the
product and sum method)
16
𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒂𝒙𝟐 + 𝒃𝒙 + 𝒄
Example 12
Factorise the following equation; a = 12
f(x) = 12 x2 – 20 x + 3 b = - 20
c=3
Working: To factorise above expression, we need to find two numbers
that have a product of +ac and a sum of +b.
Let us establish product & the factors of “ac”
a = 12 and c = 3,
so ‘ac’ = 12 × 3 = 36
that would add (sum to) to “b” i.e. -20
× 36 -4 × -9 = 36 4 × 9 = 36 3 × 12 = 36 -3 × -12 = 36 2 × 18 = 36 -2 × -18 = 36
+ (-20) -4 + (-9) = 4 + 9 = 13 3 + 12 = 15 -3 + (-13) = 2 + 18 = 20 -2 + (-18) =
-13 -15 -20
× × × × × ✓
we need to find two numbers that have a product of +ac and a sum of +b. 17
Finding the factors by-inspection
The factors are -2 & -18, so Re-writing the equation
𝑓 𝑥 = 12𝑥 2 − 20𝑥 + 3
𝑓 𝑥 = 12𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 − 18𝑥 + 3
𝑓 𝑥 = 2𝑥(6𝑥 − 1) − 3(6𝑥 − 1)
Note the grouping of terms
𝑓 𝑥 = (2𝑥 − 3) (6𝑥 − 1)
• Two factors for the equation 2𝑥 − 3 6𝑥 − 1 now let us
establish the values of x, if f(x) = 0;
12𝑥 2 − 20𝑥 + 3 = 0
𝑜𝑟(2𝑥 − 3) (6𝑥 − 1) = 0
∴ 2𝑥 − 3 = 0 & 6𝑥 − 1 = 0
2𝑥 − 3 = 0 6𝑥 − 1 = 0 𝒙 = 𝟑ൗ𝟐
2𝑥 = 3 6𝑥 = 1 ቐ
3 1 𝒙 = 𝟏ൗ𝟔
𝑥= 𝑥=
2 6
18
Finding the factors by-inspection
Factorise the following equation; f(x) = x2 + 3x - 10
a = 1 and c = -10 ac = -10 b=3
1) Work out the two factors of ac
= −10 which add to give b = 3 (5
and −2)
2) Rewrite the b term (3x) using
these two factors
3) Factorise the first two terms and
the last two terms, see that (x+5)
is a factor of both terms
Now let us establish the values of x, if f(x) = 0;
𝑥+5 𝑥−2 =0 4) When two values multiply to
make zero, at least one of the
𝑥+5=0 & 𝑥−2=0 values must be zero.
𝑥 = −5 𝑥 = 2 5) Solve these two equations.
19
Quadratic equations factorised by general formulae
Example 13 doing example 12 by using Quadratic formula
−𝒃 ± 𝒃𝟐 − 𝟒𝒂𝒄
𝒂𝒙𝟐 + 𝒃𝒙 + 𝒄 = 𝟎 𝒙=
𝟐𝒂
f(x) = 12 x2 – 20 x + 3
𝑎 = 12 𝑏 = −20 𝑐=3
−(−20) ± −20 2 − 4 × 12 × 3
𝑥=
2 × 12
20 ± 400 − 144 20 ± 256 20 ± 16
𝑥= = =
24 24 24
Considering ±, +ve and
20+16 36 𝟑
𝑥= = = 𝒙 = 𝟑ൗ𝟐
negative separately
24 24 𝟐
ቐ
20 − 16 4 𝟏 𝒙 = 𝟏ൗ𝟔
𝑥= = =
24 24 𝟔
Try Now: ቊ
𝒙=𝟐
𝒙 = −𝟕
20
Try Now:
𝑎=1 𝑏=5 𝑐 = −14
𝒙=𝟐
ቊ
𝒙 = −𝟕
21
Quadratic expression the difference of two squares
The difference of two squares, x2 – a2 always factorises to:
𝒙𝟐 − 𝒂𝟐 = 𝒙 − 𝒂 𝒙 + 𝒂
Note that there is no x term and that the number 9 is itself a square
number.
Example 16 Example 18 𝟐𝒙𝟐 − 𝟑𝟐
𝑥 2 − 92 = 𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 + 3𝑥 − 9 This time there is common factor
=𝑥 𝑥−3 +3 𝑥−3 of 2 extracted first
𝑥 2 − 92 = 𝑥 − 3 𝑥 + 3
2𝑥 2 − 32 = 2 (𝑥 2 − 16)
= 2 (𝑥 2 − 42 )
Example 17 𝑥 2 − 252 = 2 𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 4𝑥 − 16
= 2 𝑥(𝑥 − 4) + 4(𝑥 − 4)
𝑥 2 − 252 = 𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 + 5𝑥 − 25
=2 𝑥−4 𝑥+4
=𝑥 𝑥−5 +5 𝑥−5
2𝑥 2 − 32 = 2 𝑥 − 4 𝑥 + 4
𝑥 2 − 252 = 𝑥 − 5 𝑥 + 5
22
Quadratic equations solved by completing the square
Some quadratics cannot be factorised. An alternative method to
solve a quadratic equation is to complete the square.
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐
2 2
𝑏 𝑏
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑥 + − +𝑐
2 𝑎 2 𝑎
If a =1 than 𝒂 = 1 so above equation reduces to:
2 2
2
𝑏 𝑏
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 𝑥+ − +𝑐
2 2
Example: x2 + 3x – 10 see here a = 1
23
Example 19i Work out the values of x for f(x) = x2 + 8x + 8 ,
if f(x) = 0 by completing the square. See here a = 1, b = 8 & c = 8
2 2
𝑏 𝑏
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 𝑥+ − +𝑐
2 2
2 2 2 2
𝑏 𝑏 8 8
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥+ − +𝑐 = 𝑥+ − +8
2 2 2 2
2 64 2
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥+4 − + 8= 𝑥+4 − 16 + 8
4
2
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥+4 −8
But 𝑓 𝑥 =0
ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 8,
𝑥+4 2 −( 8)2 = 0 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 8 = ( 8)2
𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐 = 𝒂 + 𝒃 𝒂 − 𝒃
𝑥+4+ 8 𝑥+4− 8 =0
𝑥+4+ 8=0 𝑥+4− 8=0
𝑥 = −4 − 8 𝑥 = −4 + 8 8=2 2
𝑥 = −4 − 2 2 𝑥 = −4 + 2 2
24
𝑥 = −2(2 + 2) 𝑥 = −2(2 − 2)
Try out Work out the values of x for f(x) = x2 +4x -5 ,
if f(x) = 0 by completing the square.
2 2
2
𝑏 𝑏
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 𝑥+ − +𝑐
2 2
25
Example 19ii Work out the values of x for 𝒙𝟐 +𝟒𝒙 − 𝟓 = 𝒇 𝒙 ,
if f(x) = 0 by completing the square. 𝐚 = 𝟏, 𝒃 = 𝟒 & 𝒄 = −𝟓
2 2
4 4
1𝑥 + − + (−5) = 𝑓 𝑥
2 1 2 1
2 2
4 4
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 𝑥+ − + (−5) = 𝑓 𝑥
𝑏
2
𝑏
2 2 2
= 𝑎𝑥 + − +𝑐
2 𝑎 2 𝑎
𝑥 + 2 2 − 22 − 5 = 𝑓 𝑥
𝑥+2 2 −9=𝑓 𝑥
𝑥 + 2 2 −32 = 𝑓 𝑥
If f(x) = 0, then 𝑥+2 2 −32 = 0
[ 𝑥 + 2 + 3] [ 𝑥 + 2 − 3] = 𝟎
[ 𝑥 + 2 + 3] = 0 [ 𝑥 + 2 − 3] = 0
𝑥 = −3 − 2 = −5 𝑥 =3−2=1
𝒙 = −𝟓 𝒙=𝟏
26
Example 20 Solve the Simultaneous equations for x and y 𝒙+𝒚=𝟑
𝟑𝒙 − 𝒚 = 𝟏
Step 2
Step 1 Add 𝑥+𝑦 =3 Substitute value of x =1 in any
3𝑥 − 𝑦 = 1 equations in step 1 to get value of y,
+
𝑥+𝑦 =3
4𝑥 =4 1+𝑦 =3
𝑜𝑟 𝑥 = 1 y =3−1=2
y=2
Step 3 Multiply by 3 Step 5
3(𝑥 + 𝑦) = 3 × 3 Substitute value of y in any
equation in step 4 to get value
Step 4 Subtract of x,
3𝑥 + 3𝑦 + 9 3𝑥 − 𝑦 = 1
3𝑥 − 𝑦 = 1 3𝑥 − 2 = 1
− + −
3𝑥 = 1 + 2 = 3
4𝑦 = 8
𝑥=1
27 𝑜𝑟 𝑦 = 2
Example 21 Solve the Simultaneous equations for x and y 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒙𝟐 = 𝟐𝟗
𝒙+𝟕=𝒚
Hint: since eq (2) gives value of y, substitute this value of ‘y’ in equation 1 and expand
𝒚𝟐 + 𝒙𝟐 = 𝟐𝟗
(𝒙 + 𝟕 )𝟐 +𝒙𝟐 = 𝟐𝟗
𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟒𝒙 + 𝟒𝟗 + 𝒙𝟐 = 𝟐𝟗
𝟐𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟒𝒙 + 𝟒𝟗 − 𝟐𝟗 = 𝟎
𝒙 = −𝟓 , 𝒚 = 𝟐
ቊ
𝒙 = −𝟐, 𝒚 = 𝟓
28
Exercise
1) Solve the following quadratic equations by factorisation approach or
using the general formulae.
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 + 7
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 5𝑥 + 6 Ans: (𝑥 = −2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 3)
𝑓 𝑥 = 6𝑥 2 +13x+ 6 Ans: (𝑥 = −2/3 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 3/2)
2) Solve the following equation by completing the square;
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 10 x = - 2 + √14 and x = - 2 - √14
𝑓 𝑥 = 4𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 1 x= - 1.207 and x = 0.207
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 14𝑥 + 40 x = - 4 and x = - 10
𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 5
3) Solve the below Simultaneous equations ቊ𝑥 + 𝑦 = −1
29
Solving linear simultaneous equations using the elimination method
30