Question

PLEASE HELP

Why would someone want to factor a polynomial? Provide real-world examples of different questions we can answer or facts we can determine from factoring a polynomial.

Answer 1

-To simplify fractions.

Ex. (2x+10)/2 we factor 2 to simplify so 2(x+5)/2=x+5

Answer 2

Explanation:

Factoring a polynomial is one important way to find the roots (or x-intercepts) of the polynomial. It's not always the easiest method, particularly when the roots are mixed numbers.

If you take calculus later, you'll see that finding the derivative of a function, setting this derivative = to 0 and solving for the roots is one way in which we can identify the x-value(s) at which we have either a maximum or a minimum.