333,527 views
34 votes
34 votes
What is the greatest common factor of the terms of the polynomial below? 8x⁴ - 12x³ + 20x²

A. 4x³

B. 2x²

C. 4x²

D. 2x²



User StingyJack
by
2.8k points

1 Answer

12 votes
12 votes

Answer:

C. 4x²

Explanation:

8x^4 = 2 × 2 × 2 × x × x × x × x

12x³ = 2 × 2 × 3 × x × x × x

20x² = 2 × 2 × x × x

Look at the factors. Which factors do both numbers have?

They are in bold below.

8x^4 = 2 × 2 × 2 × x × x × x × x

12x³ = 2 × 2 × 3 × x × x × x

20x² = 2 × 2 × 5 × x × x

The common factors are 2, 2, x, x.

The GCF = 2 × 2 × x × x = 4x²

Answer: C. 4x²

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.