# Basic Arithmetic : Factoring

## Example Questions

### Example Question #13 : Operations In Expressions

Factor the following expression completely:

Explanation:

To factor an expression in the form , we need to find factors of  that add up to .

In this case,  and .

Start by listing factors of 24 and adding them up. You want the one that adds up to 10.

Because 4 and 6 are the factors that we need, you can then write

To check if you factored correctly, you can multiply the two factors together. If you end up with the original expression, then you are correct.

### Example Question #1 : Factoring

Factor the following expression completely

Explanation:

First, we need to factor the numerator and the denominator separately.

To factor an expression with the form , we will need to find factors of  that add up to be.

For the numerator,  and .

Write down the factors of  and add them up.

Since  and  add up to

Now, do the same thing with the denominator, .

Since  and  add up to .

Now, stack these factors up as fractions:

Since both the numerator and denominator have the factors (x+6), they cancel each other out because they divide to 1.

Then,

### Example Question #14 : Operations In Expressions

Factor the following expression:

Explanation:

When you factor an expression, you are separating it into its basic parts. When you multiply those parts back together, you should obtain the original expression.

The first step when factoring an expression is to see if all of the terms have something in common. In this case, , and  all have an  which can be taken out:

The next step is to focus on what's in the parentheses. To factor an expression of form , we want to try to find factors , where  and . We therefore need to look at the factors of  to see if we can find two that add to :

We've found our factors! We can therefore factor what's inside the parentheses, , as . If we remember the  we factored out to begin with, our final completely factored answer is:

### Example Question #1 : Factoring

Explanation:

This question requires you to understand order of operations, which is represented by the acronym "PEMDAS": parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction.

Solve the expression within the parenthesis first, beginning with multiplication:

The next operation in the order of operations is division.

Finally, use addition to solve the equation:

Factor