Special Products

A. Product of the Sum and Difference of Two Terms

( x y )( x y ) x y
2

The product of the sum and difference of two terms is equal to the square of the first term minus the square of the second term.

B. Square of Binomial

( x y ) x 2 xy y 2 2 2 ( x y ) x 2 xy y
2 2

The square of a binomial is equal to the square of the first term plus twice the product of the two terms plus the square of the second term.

C. Cube of Binomial

( x y ) x 3x y 3xy y 3 3 2 2 3 ( x y ) x 3x y 3xy y
3 3 2 2

The cube of a binomial is equal to the cube of the first term plus thrice the product of the second term and the square of the first term plus thrice the product of the first term and the square of the second term plus the cube of the second term.

D. Product of Two Binomials with Like Terms

(ax by)( cx dy) acx (ad bc) xy bdy
2 2

The product of two binomials with like terms is equal to the product of the first terms of the binomials plus the sum of the products of the two outer terms and two inner terms plus the product of the last terms of the binomials (FOIL Method).

E. Product of Binomial (x y) and Trinomial (x2 xy + y2)

( x y )( x xy y ) x y 2 2 3 3 ( x y )( x xy y ) x y
2 2 3 3
The product of a binomial (x + y) and a trinomial (x2 xy + y2) is simply equal to the sum of the cubes of the first term and second term of the binomial.

F. Square of Trinomial

( x y z ) x y z 2 xy 2 xz 2 yz
2 2 2 2

The square of a trinomial is equal to the sum of the squares of each term in the trinomial plus twice the product of the first and second term plus twice the product of the first and third term plus twice the product of the second and third term.

G. Square of Polynomial
2 2 2 ( x1 x2 x3 ... xn ) 2 x12 x2 x3 ...xn 2 x1 x2

2 x1 x3 ...2 x1 xn 2 x2 x3 2 x2 x4 ... 2 xn1 xn

The square of a polynomial is equal to the sum of the squares of each term in the polynomial plus twice the algebraic sum of the products obtained by multiplying any two terms of the polynomial.

Factoring
- is the process of finding the prime factors of an expression

Greatest Common Factor

ax ay az a( x y z)
1. 49x4y 14x5y7 + 28xy4

2. 7m(a + 4b) 2n(a + 4b)

3. 54a2bc3 + 72a2b3c + 36abc2 4. 36x2(a + 2b) 12x4(a + 2b)2

Difference of Two Squares

x y ( x y )( x y )
2 2

1. 25x4 9y2

2. 121w2 100
3. 81z4 64a4

4. 49x2 9y2

Sum and Difference of Two Cubes

x 3 y 3 ( x y )( x 2 xy y 2 ) 3 3 2 2 x y ( x y )( x xy y )
1. 8m3n3 125

2. 27x3 + 64y3
3. 125x3 y3 4. 25m6 + 200m3n3

Perfect Square Trinomial

x 2 2 xy y 2 ( x y ) 2 2 2 2 x 2 xy y ( x y )
1. 9x2 + 6xy + y2

2. 9a2 42ab + 49b2

3. 36a4x2 + 84a2bxy3 + 49b2y6 4. 144a5b3 240a3b2 + 100ab

Quadratic Trinomial
acx (ad bc) xy bdy (ax by)( cx dy)
2 2

1. x2 7x + 12

2. 2x2 xy 55y2
3. 25a2 + 21a 4 4. 14p2q2 23pqr 66r2

Factoring by Grouping
1. 2xy + 6y + x + 3 2. 4a2 4ab + b2 + 2a b

3. 6ac 4ad + 15bc 10bd

4. 8p3 10p2q 28pr + 35qr