FACTORING BY GREATEST Name _____________________________________

COMMON FACTOR (GCF) Date _____________________________Pd______

STUDENT HANDOU T

______________ is the process of rewriting a polynomial as a product of two or more polynomials,

called factors. A ____________ is any constant or variable that when multiplied, form a __________.
List the factors of each of the following.

32 -9 3x x2

The greatest common factor, GCF, of a polynomial is the greatest ________________ that divides
into each term evenly.

Determine the GCF for the polynomial given at the right

by completing a-c.
3x2 +6x
a. Write each term in expanded form.
b. Highlight or circle the greatest common factors of the two terms.
c. What is the GCF of this polynomial?

Use these steps to determine the GCF of the polynomial in the box at the left.

12x2 + 36x DETERMINING GCF OF POLYNOMIALS

• Look at the __________________.
What is the largest number that divides evenly into each term?
• Look at the __________________.
Is there a common variable in each term?

For each polynomial in 1-4, identify the greatest common factor if one exists.

1. 45x2 + 9x 2. -8x2 – 12x

_____________ _____________

3. 2x2 + 4x + 7 4. 5b2 + 20b – 10

_____________ _____________
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A polynomial with a GCF can be factored by ____________ out the greatest common factor.

FACTORING BY GCF
• Determine the _____________ . 15x2 5x
• Write the GCF on the left side of the graphic organizer
or a set of parentheses.
• _____________ each term by the GCF. 15x2 + 5x → ________________

For 5 and 6, use the graphic organizers to factor the polynomials.

5. 32x2 + 12x→ ____________________ 6. 8r2 – 40r – 16→ ____________________

For 7 and 8, use parentheses to factor the polynomials. Then, check your answer by applying the
distributive property.

7. -6x + 12x2 → ____________________ 8. 36h2 + 64h + 8→ ____________________

✓ CHECK: ✓ CHECK:

In 9-11, use your knowledge of GCF and factoring to answer each question.
9. Find the perimeter of the triangle shown below, then factor the polynomial.

4x
x+3

Perimeter: ____________________

Factor: ____________________
5x + 2

10. Joshua factored 9x2 – 36x. Identify his 11. Write a polynomial…
mistake and correctly factor the polynomial.
a. with 3 terms that has a GCF of 7.

9x2 – 36x b. with 2 terms that has a GCF of 5x.

3x(3x – 12)

Summarize today’s lesson:

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 FACTORING X2 + BX + C Name _____________________________________
STUDENT HANDOU T Date _____________________________Pd______

A polynomial with three terms is called a _______________ . Trinomials can often be

factored and written as the product of two ______________. To help us factor trinomials in the
form x2 + bx + c, multiply the binomials in A and B and look for any patterns.

A (x + 5)(x + 2) = ________________ B (x + 7)(x – 3) = ________________

• How does the middle term of the product • How does the middle term of the product
relate to the binomials? relate to the binomials?

• How does the last term of the product • How does the last term of the product
relate to the binomials? relate to the binomials?

• Abigail needs to factor x2 + 11x + 30. Using the patterns above, describe what should be true
about the values in the binomial factors.

• First, check to see if a _____ can be factored out of the trinomial.

FACTORING
• Next, find two factors with a product of _____ and a sum of ______.
X2 + BX + C
• Use these two values to write your binomial factors.

Follow the steps above to factor each trinomial below. Check your answer by multiplying.
1. x2 + 5x + 6 What two factors have a 2. x2 + 9x + 20 What two factors have a
product of ____ and a sum product of ____ and a sum
of ____? of ____?
FACTORS SUM FACTORS SUM
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____________________ ____________________
CHECK: CHECK:

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Factor the trinomials in 3-5. Then reflect on your solutions in a-b.
3. x2 + 9x + 8 4. t2 + 4t − 12 5. c2 − 7c + 10

_________________ _________________ _________________

a. Which trinomial(s) had a positive “c” value? How did this affect the signs in the binomial
factors?

b. Which trinomial(s) had a negative “c” value? How did this affect the signs in the binomial
factors?

At times, there are no factors of “c” with a ______ of “b”. In this case, the polynomial cannot be
factored and is a ________ trinomial. For 6-8, factor if possible. If not possible, explain why.
6. m2 − 9m + 14 7. x2 − 5x + 1 8. b2 − b − 30

_________________ _________________ _________________

9. Darren factored a trinomial and ended up 10. The area of Mrs. Crocker’s rectangular
with two binomials in the form below. Mark pantry floor can be expressed as x2 + 11x + 24
each statement as true or false. units2. List a possible expression for the length
and the width of her pantry floor.
(x + ___ )(x − ___ )

______ a. Darren’s trinomial must have had a

negative “c” value.

______ b. Darren’s trinomial must have had a

negative “b” value.

length: ________ width: ________

Summarize today’s lesson:
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 FACTORING AX2 + BX + C Name _____________________________________
STUDENT HANDOU T Date _____________________________Pd______

The characteristics of a polynomial can change the method used to factor the polynomial. In this
lesson we’ll look at trinomials with leading coefficients, or values of _____ , that are not equal to
one. Use the checklist to help you factor the polynomial in example a.

✓ FACTORING CHECKLIST: a. 2x2 + 14x + 20

1. Is there a GCF that can be factored out?
B
2. Is the polynomial of the form x2 + bx + c?

3. Is the polynomial of the form ax2 + bx + c?

Next, complete step 1 and 2 of the checklist for example b below. What do you notice?

To factor a polynomial of the form ax2 + bx + c, we can use ______________ (also known as the
“AC” method) to help. Follow the steps in the “AC” method described below to complete example b.

B b. 3x2 + 8x + 5 FACTOR BY GROUPING: THE “AC” METHOD

1. Find two integers whose sum is ______ and whose
product is _______

3x2 ____ ____ + 5 2. Rewrite the middle term using the integers in step 1

3. Use grouping to create two pairs

4. Factor out the GCF from each pair

5. Rewrite the factors

Follow the steps above to factor each trinomial below. Check your answer by multiplying.
1. 4x2 + 12x + 5 ✓ CHECK: 2. 2x2 + 9x + 7 ✓ CHECK:
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Factor the polynomials in 3-5 and then answer questions 6-9.

3. 6x2 – 11x + 3 4. 2k2 – 5k – 12 5. 3x2 + 3x – 90

_______________ _______________ _______________

6. Is it possible to have a polynomial of the form ax2 + bx + c that isn’t factorable? If yes, justify
your answer with an example. If no, explain your reasoning.

7. Trent factors 4x2 + 13x + 3. He determines 8. Mrs. Rieke asked her class to factor
that his integers must add to 13 and multiply to 3x2 – 11x – 20. Which student did NOT find a
12. He sets up his factors as shown below. correct factor of the trinomial?
Determine his mistake and correctly factor the
polynomial. JOSE SONA JACK
(x + 12)(x + 1)
x+5 3x + 4 x–5

9. Paulo has a vintage record player in the shape of a rectangular prism.

The volume of the player is 10x2 – 65x – 35. Write expressions that represent
possible dimensions for the length, width and height of the record player.
(Hint: V = lwh)

_______________ _______________ _______________

Summarize today’s lesson:

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DIFFERENCE OF SQUARES Name _____________________________________
STUDENT HANDOU T Date _____________________________Pd______

When factoring polynomials of certain forms, there are patterns that can be observed and
applied. Consider the polynomial shown in the box below and complete a-d.

a. If the polynomial is of the form x2 + bx + c, list the values of b

and c:
B
x2 – 16

b. List the factors of c that have a sum of b:

c. Factor the polynomial in the box at the right. Then check your
work with multiplication.

d. What do you notice about the two factors? How do they

compare to each other and to the original polynomial?

• A difference of squares refers to a polynomial of the form

____________ , or a ____________ value subtracted from another
DIFFERENCE ____________ value.
OF SQUARES
• If a polynomial begins as a difference of two squares (____________ ),
we know its factors are __________ and __________.

Write “yes” or ”no” to identify whether each term below is a perfect square. If yes, write the
term as a product of its square roots. The first term has been done for you as an example.

81 144 x2 9x3 4x4

Yes
9(9) = 81

Use the patterns above to factor each difference of two squares in 1-3. Check your solution
using multiplication.
1. x2 − 49 2. 4b2 − 25 3. 36m4 − 1

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Review and consider each of ✓ FACTORING CHECKLIST:
the steps in the factoring
checklist before factoring the 1. Is there a GCF that can be factored out?
polynomials in 4-6 and
answering the questions in 2. Is the polynomial in any of the forms below?
7-10. • x2 + bx + c
• ax2 + bx + c
• A difference of squares (a2 − b2)

4. 6n2 − 54 5. 3c2 − 12 6. 8p3 − 50p

7. Felicia believes that the polynomial below is 8. Use your knowledge of factoring to answer
a difference of squares because each term a and b.
has a perfect square coefficient or constant.
a. Theo multiplied (5x − 8) by a second factor
x2 − 36x + 9 to get a product of 25x2 − 64. Find the
second factor.
a. Do you agree? Explain.

b. Jill multiplied (4x + 1) by a second factor to

b. Can the polynomial be factored? Explain. get a product of 16x2 + 4x. Find the second
factor.

9. Tristan applied the difference of squares to 10. The kids’ pool in Ben’s neighborhood is
factor the polynomial below. Explain Tristan’s rectangular-shaped and covers an area that
error and correct his solution. can be represented by 169x2 − 64 units2. Write
expressions to represent the dimensions of the
16x2 − 81x pool.

(4x + 9)(4x − 9)

Summarize today’s lesson:

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PERFECT SQUARE Name _____________________________________
Date _____________________________Pd______
TRINOMIALS
STUDENT HANDOU T

Factor each of the polynomials in the table below. Then answer the question that follows.
x2 + 10x + 25 x2 – 6x + 9 9x2 + 12x + 4

FACTORS: FACTORS: FACTORS:

What do you notice about the factors of each polynomial, and how do the factors compare to the
original polynomial?

• A perfect square trinomial is the result of ___________ a binomial and will

have one of the following formats. Write the factors below each trinomial.
PERFECT
SQUARE a2 + 2ab + b2 a2 − 2ab + b2
TRINOMIALS __________ __________ or __________ __________ or
__________ __________

The questions below can help you determine if a polynomial is a perfect square polynomial.

IS IT A PERFECT SQUARE TRINOMIAL?

1. Are the first and last terms perfect squares? If so, list the square roots.
2. Is the middle term twice the product of the square roots found in step 1?
3. If the answer to both 1 and 2 is yes, the trinomial is a perfect square trinomial.

Sort the letter of each polynomial based on whether it represents a perfect

square trinomial: ✓ ✕
A B x2 + 18x + 81
4x2 − 10x + 25

C D 16x2 + 24x + 9
2x2 − 26x + 144

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 ✓ FACTORING CHECKLIST:
Perfect square trinomials are another
special structure to look for in order to 1. Is there a GCF that can be factored out?
help you factor. Review and consider 2. Is the polynomial in any of the forms below?
each of the steps in the factoring
• x2 + bx + c
checklist before factoring the polynomials
• ax2 + bx + c
in 1-4.
• A difference of squares (a2 − b2)
• A perfect square trinomial (a2 ± 2ab + b2)

1. x2 + 26x + 169 2. 25x2 – 60x + 36 3. x2 – 29x + 100 4. 9x2 – 42x + 49

5. Mrs. Carter writes the following perfect 6. Rebekah is making square potholders for
square trinomial on the board, but the middle family Christmas presents. The area of the
term got erased. Declan claims the middle term potholder is 9x2 – 6x + 1 square inches. Write
must have been 16x. Is he correct or is there an expression to represent the side length of
another possibility? Explain your reasoning. the potholder.

x2 + 64

7. Write a perfect square trinomial that includes the term 36x2.

8. Draw a line to classify each polynomial and a line to its factors. Not all factors will be used.

(2x − 5)(2x + 5)
4x2 − 25 PERFECT SQUARE TRINOMIAL

(2x + 5)2
4x2 − 20x + 25 NEITHER
(2x – 5)2

4x2 − 25x + 25 DIFFERENCE OF TWO SQUARES (x – 5)(4x – 5)

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