Question

Factor the following polynomial.

2x^3– 10x^2 – 12x
Enter the GCF of
the polynomial.

Answer 1

2x(x - 6)(x + 1)

Explanation:

Given

2x³ - 10x² - 12x ← factor out 2x from each term

= 2x(x² - 5x - 6)

To factor the quadratic

Consider the factors of the constant term (- 6) which sum to give the coefficient of the x- term (- 5)

The factors are - 6 and + 1, since

- 6 × 1 = - 6 and - 6 + 1 = - 5, thus

x² - 5x - 6 = (x - 6)(x + 1) and

2x³ - 10x² - 12x = 2x(x - 6)(x + 1) ← in factored form

Answer 2

The equation
`2x^(3) -10x^(2) -12x` has 2 and x in common. This means you can factor both the 2 and x out of the equation like so...

2x(
`x^(2) -5x-6`)

Hope this helped!

~Just a girl in love with Shawn Mendes