How to factor polynomials: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:52, 8 October 2009

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'''Non-Monic PolynomialsTrinomials'''--There is a constant other than 1 as the leading coefficient.<br />

<math>ax^2+bx+c=(mx+p)(nx+q)</math><br />

where <math>mn=a</math>, <math>pq=c</math>, and <math>mq+pn=b</math><br />

Many times students are taught that to factor a non-monic trinomials, they must guess different combinations of m,n,p,and q and then FOIL the factors to see if they had guessed correctly. There is a method of factoring that, while not often taught, will work.<br />

==References==