Factorization of Polynomials
We'll use different techniques to factorize the following polynomial:
First, we factor out the greatest possible number with the greatest possible power of the variable. This is called the GCF or the greatest common factor.
All the numbers are multiples of 6 and all of the terms have the variable x. The GCF of the three terms is 6x, thus:
Now we need to factorize the polynomial in parentheses. The inspection method requires us to find two numbers that add up to -10 and their product is 24. These numbers are -4 and -6. Thus the polynomial can be factored as:
This corresponds to option d