FactoringQuadratics

AQuadraticEquationinStandardForm
(a,b,andccanhaveanyvalue,exceptthatacan'tbe0.)

To"Factor"(or"Factorise"intheUK)aQuadraticisto:

findwhattomultiplytogettheQuadratic

Itiscalled"Factoring"becausewefindthefactors(afactorissomethingwe
multiplyby)

Example
Thefactorsofx2+3x4are:

(x+4)and(x1)

Why?Well,letusmultiplythemtosee:

(x+4)(x1) =x(x1)+4(x1)
=x2x+4x4
=x2+3x4

Multiplying(x+4)(x1)togetheriscalled Expanding .

Infact,ExpandingandFactoringareopposites:

Expand

(x+4)(x-1) x 2 + 3x - 4
Factor

Expandingiseasy,butFactoringcanoftenbetricky

Itisliketryingtofindoutwhatingredients
wentintoacaketomakeitsodelicious.
 Itcanbehardtofigureout!

Soletustryanexamplewherewedon'tknowthefactorsyet:

Common Factor
Firstcheckifthereanycommonfactors.

Example:whatarethefactorsof6x22x=0?

6and2haveacommonfactorof2:

2(3x2x)=0

Andx2andxhaveacommonfactorofx:

2x(3x1)=0

Andwehavedoneit!Thefactorsare2xand3x1,

Wecannowalsofindtheroots(whereitequalszero):

2xis0whenx=0
3x1iszerowhenx=1/3

Andthisisthegraph(seehowitiszeroatx=0andx=1/3):

Butitisnotalwaysthateasy...
Guess and Check
Maybewecanguessananswer?
 Example:whatarethefactorsof2x2+7x+3?

Nocommonfactors.

Letustrytoguessananswer,andthencheckifweareright...wemightgetlucky!

Wecouldguess(2x+3)(x+1):

(2x+3)(x+1)=2x2+2x+3x+3
=2x2+5x+3(WRONG)

Howabout(2x+7)(x1):

(2x+7)(x1)=2x22x+7x7
=2x2+5x7(WRONGAGAIN)

OK,howabout(2x+9)(x1):

(2x+9)(x1)=2x22x+9x9
=2x2+7x9(WRONGAGAIN)

OhNo!Wecouldbeguessingforalongtimebeforewegetlucky.

Thatisnotaverygoodmethod.Soletustrysomethingelse.

A Method For Simple Cases

Luckilythereisamethodthatworksinsimplecases.

Withthequadraticequationinthisform:

Step1:Findtwonumbersthatmultiplytogiveac(inotherwordsatimesc),andaddtogiveb.

Example:2x2+7x+3

acis23=6andbis7

Sowewanttwonumbersthatmultiplytogethertomake6,andaddupto7
 Sowewanttwonumbersthatmultiplytogethertomake6,andaddupto7

Infact6and1dothat(61=6,and6+1=7)

Howdowefind6and1?

Ithelpstolist thefactors ofac=6,andthentryaddingsometogetb=7.

Factorsof6include1,2,3and6.

Aha!1and6addto7,and61=6.

Step2:Rewritethemiddlewiththosenumbers:

Rewrite7xwith6xand1x:

2x2+6x+x+3

Step3:Factorthefirsttwoandlasttwotermsseparately:

Thefirsttwoterms2x2+6xfactorinto2x(x+3)

Thelasttwotermsx+3don'tactuallychangeinthiscase

Soweget:

2x(x+3)+(x+3)

Step4:Ifwe'vedonethiscorrectly,ourtwonewtermsshouldhaveaclearlyvisiblecommon
factor.

Inthiscasewecanseethat(x+3)iscommontobothterms,sowecango:

Startwith 2x(x+3)+(x+3)

Whichis: 2x(x+3)+1(x+3)
Andso: (2x+1)(x+3)

Check:(2x+1)(x+3)=2x2+6x+x+3=2x2+7x+3(Yes)
Steps1to4(quicklynow!)Let'sseethosechangesagain,fromStarttoFinish:

2x2+7x+3
2x2+ 6x+x +3
2x(x+3) + (x+3)
2x (x+3)+ 1 (x+3)
(2x+1)(x+3)

Muchbetterthanguessing!

Letustryanotherexample:

Example:6x2+5x6

Step1:acis6(6)=36,andbis5

Listthepositive factors ofac=36:1,2,3,4,6,9,12,18,36

Oneofthenumbershastobenegativetomake36,sobyplayingwithafewdifferent
numbersIfindthat4and9worknicely:

49=36and4+9=5

Step2:Rewrite5xwith4xand9x:

6x24x+9x6

Step3:Factorfirsttwoandlasttwo:

2x(3x2)+3(3x2)

Step4:CommonFactoris(3x2):

(2x+3)(3x2)

Check:(2x+3)(3x2)=6x24x+9x6=6x2+5x6(Yes)


FindingThoseNumbers

Thehardestpartisfindingtwonumbersthatmultiplytogiveac,andaddtogiveb.

Itispartlyguesswork,andithelpsto listoutallthefactors .

Hereisanotherexampletohelpyou:

Example:ac=120andb=7

Whattwonumbersmultiplyto120andaddto7?

Thefactorsof120are(plusandminus):

1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,15,20,24,30,40,60,and120

Wecantrypairsoffactors(startnearthemiddle!)andseeiftheyaddto7:

10x12=120,and10+12=2(no)
8x15=120and8+15=7(YES!)

Why Factor?
Well,oneofthebigbenefitsoffactoringisthatwecanfindtherootsofthequadraticequation
(wheretheequationiszero).

Allweneedtodo(afterfactoring)isfindwhereeachofthetwofactorsbecomeszero

Example:whataretheroots(zeros)of6x2+5x6?

Wealreadyknow(fromabove)thefactorsare

(2x+3)(3x2)

Andwecanfigureoutthat

(2x+3)iszerowhenx=3/2

and

(3x2)iszerowhenx=2/3

 Sotherootsof6x2+5x6are:

3/2and2/3

Hereisaplotof6x2+5x6,canyouseewhereitequalszero?

Andwecanalsocheckitusingabitofarithmetic:

Atx=3/2:6(3/2)2+5(3/2)6=6(9/4)15/26=54/415/26=66=
0

Atx=2/3:6(2/3)2+5(2/3)6=6(4/9)+10/36=24/9+10/36=66=0

Graphing
Wecanalsotry graphingthequadraticequation .Seeingwhereitequalszerocangiveusclues.

Example:(continued)

Startingwith6x2+5x6andjustthisplot:

Therootsarearoundx=1.5andx=+0.67,sowecanguesstherootsare:

3/2and2/3

Whichcanhelpusworkoutthefactors2x+3and3x2

Alwayscheckthough!0.67mightnotbe2/3forexample.
 Alwayscheckthough!0.67mightnotbe2/3forexample.

The General Solution

Thereisalsoageneralsolution(usefulwhentheabovemethodfails),whichusesthe quadratic
formula :

- b +
- b2
- 4 ac
x=
2a
Usethatformulatogetthetwoanswersx+andx(oneisforthe"+"case,andtheotherisfor
the""caseinthe""),andwegetthisfactoring:

a(xx+)(xx)

Letususethepreviousexampletoseehowthatworks:

Example:whataretherootsof6x2+5x6?

Substitutea=6,b=5andc=6intotheformula:

x=(b[b24ac])/2a

x=(5[5246(6)])/26

=(5[25+144])/12

=(5169)/12

=(513)/12

Sothetworootsare:

x+=(5 + 13)/12=8/12=2/3,

x=(5 13)/12=18/12=3/2

(Noticethatwegetthesameresultwedidwiththefactoringweusedbefore)

Nowputthosevaluesintoa(xx+)(xx):
 Nowputthosevaluesintoa(xx+)(xx):

6(x2/3)(x+3/2)

Wecanrearrangethatalittletosimplifyit:

3(x2/3)2(x+3/2)=(3x2)(2x+3)

Andwegetthesamefactorsaswedidbefore!

Question1Question2Question3Question4Question5
Question6Question7Question8Question9Question10
Question11Question12

(Thanksto"mathsyperson"forpartsofthisarticle)

Search::Index::About::Contact::Contribute::CiteThisPage::Privacy

C opyright2014MathsIsFun.com