12/27/2015

FactoringQuadratics

FactoringQuadratics

AQuadraticEquationinStandardForm
(a,b,andccanhaveanyvalue,exceptthatacan'tbe0.)

To"Factor"(or"Factorise"intheUK)aQuadraticisto:

findwhattomultiplytogettheQuadratic
Itiscalled"Factoring"becausewefindthefactors(afactoris
somethingwemultiplyby)

Example
Thefactorsofx2+3x4are:

(x+4)and(x1)
Why?Well,letusmultiplythemtosee:

(x+4)(x1) =x(x1)+4(x1)

=x2x+4x4

=x2+3x4

Multiplying(x+4)(x1)togetheriscalled Expanding .
Infact,ExpandingandFactoringareopposites:

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FactoringQuadratics

Expandingiseasy,butFactoringcanoftenbetricky

Itisliketryingtofindoutwhatingredients
wentintoacaketomakeitsodelicious.
Itcanbehardtofigureout!

Soletustryanexamplewherewedon'tknowthefactorsyet:

Common Factor
Firstcheckifthereanycommonfactors.

Example:whatarethefactorsof6x22x=0?
6and2haveacommonfactorof2:

2(3x2x)=0
Andx2andxhaveacommonfactorofx:

2x(3x1)=0
Andwehavedoneit!Thefactorsare2xand3x1,

Wecannowalsofindtheroots(whereitequalszero):
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FactoringQuadratics

2xis0whenx=0
3x1iszerowhenx=1/3
Andthisisthegraph(seehowitiszeroatx=0andx=1/3):

Butitisnotalwaysthateasy...

Guess and Check

Maybewecanguessananswer?

Example:whatarethefactorsof2x2+7x+3?
Nocommonfactors.
Letustrytoguessananswer,andthencheckifweareright...wemightget
lucky!

Wecouldguess(2x+3)(x+1):

(2x+3)(x+1)=2x2+2x+3x+3
=2x2+5x+3(WRONG)
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FactoringQuadratics

Howabout(2x+7)(x1):

(2x+7)(x1)=2x22x+7x7
=2x2+5x7(WRONGAGAIN)
OK,howabout(2x+9)(x1):

(2x+9)(x1)=2x22x+9x9
=2x2+7x9(WRONGAGAIN)
OhNo!Wecouldbeguessingforalongtimebeforewegetlucky.

Thatisnotaverygoodmethod.Soletustrysomethingelse.

A Method For Simple Cases

Luckilythereisamethodthatworksinsimplecases.
Withthequadraticequationinthisform:

Step1:Findtwonumbersthatmultiplytogiveac(inotherwordsatimesc),andaddto
giveb.

Example:2x2+7x+3
acis23=6andbis7
Sowewanttwonumbersthatmultiplytogethertomake6,andaddupto7
Infact6and1dothat(61=6,and6+1=7)
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FactoringQuadratics

Howdowefind6and1?
Ithelpstolist thefactors ofac=6,andthentryaddingsometogetb=7.
Factorsof6include1,2,3and6.
Aha!1and6addto7,and61=6.
Step2:Rewritethemiddlewiththosenumbers:

Rewrite7xwith6xand1x:

2x2+6x+x+3

Step3:Factorthefirsttwoandlasttwotermsseparately:

Thefirsttwoterms2x2+6xfactorinto2x(x+3)
Thelasttwotermsx+3don'tactuallychangeinthiscase
Soweget:

2x(x+3)+(x+3)

Step4:Ifwe'vedonethiscorrectly,ourtwonewtermsshouldhaveaclearlyvisible
commonfactor.

Inthiscasewecanseethat(x+3)iscommontobothterms
Sowecannowrewriteitlikethis:

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FactoringQuadratics

2x(x+3)+(x+3)=(2x+1)(x+3)

Check:(2x+1)(x+3)=2x2+6x+x+3=2x2+7x+3(Yes)

Muchbetterthanguessing!

Letustryanotherexample:
Example:6x2+5x6
Step1:acis6(6)=36,andbis5
Listthepositive factors ofac=36:1,2,3,4,6,9,12,18,36
Oneofthenumbershastobenegativetomake36,sobyplayingwithafew
differentnumbersIfindthat4and9worknicely:

49=36and4+9=5

Step2:Rewrite5xwith4xand9x:

6x24x+9x6
Step3:Factorfirsttwoandlasttwo:

2x(3x2)+3(3x2)
Step4:CommonFactoris(3x2):

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FactoringQuadratics

(2x+3)(3x2)

Check:(2x+3)(3x2)=6x24x+9x6=6x2+5x6(Yes)

FindingThoseNumbers
Thehardestpartisfindingtwonumbersthatmultiplytogiveac,andaddtogiveb.
Itispartlyguesswork,andithelpsto listoutallthefactors

Hereisanotherexampletohelpyou:

Example:ac=120andb=7
Whattwonumbersmultiplyto120andaddto7?
Thefactorsof120are(plusandminus):
1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,15,20,24,30,40,60,and120
Wecantrypairsoffactors(startnearthemiddle!)andseeiftheyaddto7:
10x12=120,and10+12=2(no)
8x15=120and8+15=7(YES!)

Why Factor?
Well,oneofthebigbenefitsoffactoringisthatwecanfindtherootsofthequadratic
equation(wheretheequationiszero).
Allweneedtodo(afterfactoring)isfindwhereeachofthetwofactorsbecomeszero
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FactoringQuadratics

Example:whataretheroots(zeros)of6x2+5x6?
Wealreadyknow(fromabove)thefactorsare

(2x+3)(3x2)
Andwecanfigureoutthat
(2x+3)iszerowhenx=3/2
and
(3x2)iszerowhenx=2/3

Sotherootsof6x2+5x6are:

3/2and2/3
Hereisaplotof6x2+5x6,canyouseewhereitequalszero?

Andwecanalsocheckitusingabitofarithmetic:

Atx=3/2:6(3/2)2+5(3/2)6=6(9/4)15/26=54/415/26
=66=0

Atx=2/3:6(2/3)2+5(2/3)6=6(4/9)+10/36=24/9+10/36=
66=0
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FactoringQuadratics

Graphing
Wecanalsotry graphingthequadraticequation .Seeingwhereitequalszerocangiveus
clues.

Example:(continued)
Startingwith6x2+5x6andjustthisplot:

Therootsarearoundx=1.5andx=+0.67,sowecanguesstherootsare:

3/2and2/3
Whichcanhelpusworkoutthefactors2x+3and3x2
Alwayscheckthough!0.67mightnotbe2/3forexample.

The General Solution

Thereisalsoageneralsolution(usefulwhentheabovemethodfails),whichusesthe
quadraticformula :

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Usethatformulatogetthetwoanswersx+andx(oneisforthe"+"case,andtheother
isforthe""caseinthe""),andwegetthisfactoring:

a(xx+)(xx)
Letususethepreviousexampletoseehowthatworks:

Example:whataretherootsof6x2+5x6?
Substitutea=6,b=5andc=6intotheformula:

x=(b[b24ac])/2a
x=(5[5246(6)])/26
=(5[25+144])/12
=(5169)/12
=(513)/12
Sothetworootsare:

x+=(5 + 13)/12=8/12=2/3,
x=(5 13)/12=18/12=3/2
(Noticethatwegetthesameresultwedidwiththefactoringweusedbefore)

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FactoringQuadratics

Nowputthosevaluesintoa(xx+)(xx):

6(x2/3)(x+3/2)
Wecanrearrangethatalittletosimplifyit:

3(x2/3)2(x+3/2)=(3x2)(2x+3)
Andwegetthesamefactorsaswedidbefore!

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(Thanksto"mathsyperson"forpartsofthisarticle)

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