EAP/GWL Rev.

1/2011 Page 1 of 5

Factoring a polynomial is the process of writing it as the product of two or more polynomial factors.
Example: —
Set the factors of a polynomial equation (as opposed to an expression) equal to zero in order to solve for a
variable: Example: To solve , ; ,
The flowchart below illustrates a sequence of steps for factoring polynomials.

First, always factor out the Greatest Common Factor (GCF), if one exists.

Is the equation a Binomial or a Trinomial?

1
Prime polynomials
cannot be factored Yes No
using integers alone.
The Sum of
Squares and the Four or more
quadratic factors Special Cases? terms
of the Sum and
Difference of Binomial Trinomial
Squares are (two terms) (three terms) Factor by Grouping:
always Prime.
1. Group the terms with
1. Difference of Squares: common factors and factor
out the GCF from each
Perfect Square
grouping.
1,3 Trinomial:
2. Sum of Squares:
1.
2. Continue factoring—by
1,2 2. looking for Special Cases,
3. Difference of Cubes: Grouping, etc.—until the
3 equation is in simplest form
FYI: A Sum of Squares can
1,2 (or all factors are Prime).
4. Sum of Cubes: be factored using imaginary
numbers if you rewrite it as
a Difference of Squares:
—
2
Use S.O.A.P to
No Special √ 1 √ 1
remember the signs Cases
for the factors of the 4
Sum and Difference Completing the Square and the Quadratic Formula
Choose: are primarily methods for solving equations rather
of Cubes:
1. Factor by Grouping than simply factoring expressions.
Same, 4
2. Complete the Square Also, if the GCF doesn’t contain a variable, it may not
Opposite, 4
Always Positive 3. Use the Quadratic be necessary to factor it out prior to using either of
Formula these methods. However, doing so will provide
smaller coefficients to work with.

This process is applied in the following examples

Factoring steps and most examples are adapted from Professor Elias Juridini, Lamar State College‐Orange.
EAP/GWL Rev. 1/2011 Page 2 of 5
Factoring Examples
Binomials:
1. : First, divide each term by the to get the .
Then, show the multiplied by the .
No special cases apply to the binomial , so the factors are and .

Factored:

2. : This polynomial expression has no .

However, it can be expressed as a : .
Use the square root of each term, and √16 4 to fill in the formula:
, …

Continue to factor another : .

The next factor is a , which is .

Factored:

3. : There s no to factor out, but you should recognize this polynomial expression as
a : .
Use the cube root of each term, 729 9 √1 1 to fill in the formula:

• In the first set of parentheses, place each term to the first power: 9x 1 .
• In the second set, square the first and the last term: 9x ? 1
o The middle term is the product of the first and the last: 9x 9x 1 1
o *Note that this quadratic factor is Prime!
• Use S.O.A.P to remember the signs: Same in first set of parentheses; Opposite, followed by
Always Positive in second set of parentheses.
If and , then …

Factored: .

Trinomials:
1. : There’s no GCF to factor out of this expression, so check for a Perfect Square
Trinomial—
or
ASK: •Are the first and the last terms perfect squares? and — !
•Is the middle term two times the product of the square roots of the first and last terms?
Factoring steps and most examples are adapted from Professor Elias Juridini, Lamar State College‐Orange.
 EAP/GWL Rev. 1/2011 Page 3 of 5
First Term √ , Last Term √4 , and — !
If “Yes” to both of the above:
•Place the square roots of the first and last terms in parentheses: ? 2
•Use the sign of the middle term: 2
•Square the whole thing: 2
If and √4 , then …

Factored:

2. : Factor out the , , in this equation to get .

Be sure the trinomial factor isn t a special case— it isn t— and select a factoring method.
a. Try Grouping:
• First, multiply the coefficient of the first term, 2, and the constant, 10: 2•10=20.
( ) Factor by Grouping ( )

• Then find the factors of this product, 20, that add/subtract to yield the coefficient of the
middle term, which is 1.
Factors of 20: 1•20, 2•10, and 4•5. Of these factors, 4 and 5 will subtract to give 1.
Because the middle term is positive, we use +5 and –4.
• Replace the middle term with –4 and +5: .
o It’s important to order the two new middle terms so a GCF can be factored from
each pair: , but not .
• Group the first and last pairs of terms; factor out a GCF from each, and rewrite the problem:
2 4 5 10 2 2 5 2 .
o Note that appears twice. If this doesn’t happen, reorder your middle terms.
• Factor out the GCF—which is —and rewrite in factored form.

• Remember to include the 2 factored out at the beginning when you write the whole
equation in factored form

Factored:

• Recall that this example is an equation set equal to zero (not simply an expression). That
means we can solve for x by setting each factor containing a variable equal to zero.
or
or

Solutions: or

*Always check by plugging your answers into the original equation to verify them!

b. Now let’s solve the same equation, , by Completing the Square:

• Make sure the equation is in the General quadratic Form— —and it is.
• The GCF is 2, but you don’t need to factor it out—doing so will not affect the solutions.

Factoring steps and most examples are adapted from Professor Elias Juridini, Lamar State College‐Orange.
nge.
 EAP/GWL Rev. 1/2011 Page 4 of 5
• Divide each term by the first term’s coefficient unless the first coefficient is already 1 :
2 20 2 20

• Isolate the constant on the right side of the equal sign. Then take ½ the middle term’s
coefficient multiply by ½ or divide by 2 , square it, and add this number to both sides of
the equation:
□Completing the Square□

1
5 5 0 5
2
1 1 1 1 1
The is Take of and square it:
2 2 2 4 4
1
Add to both sides: 5
2
Use a common denominator to add fractions:

• Now we have , which is a Perfect Square Trinomial on the left.

*The point of Completing the Square is to create a Perfect Square Trinomial!

Compare with the formula:

In , √ and The middle term is

The trinomial can be written as , so it can be factored as

• Rewrite the equation with the left side factored:

• The final step is to extract the roots and solve for x:

or

Solutions: or
*The solutions are the same as obtained from the previous method!

c. Finally, let’s try using the Quadratic Formula to solve the equation :
Quadratic
√
Formula

• Factor out the GCF to get .

Factoring steps and most examples are adapted from Professor Elias Juridini, Lamar State College‐Orange.
EAP/GWL Rev. 1/2011 Page 5 of 5
• Note that factoring out the 2 will not affect the solutions, but it does result in smaller
coefficients to plug into the Quadratic Formula.
Quadratic Formula
• Make sure the equation is in General quadratic Form, , and it is.
• Identify a, b, and c in : , ,
• Plug these numbers into the formula and solve for x:

√ √

or

Solutions: or
*Again, we obtain the same solutions as we did by other methods!
More Than Four Terms:
1. : Factor the expression by Grouping and continue factoring until
completely simplified.
• Factor out the GCF, 5, to get and then group the terms so that
another GCF can be removed from each grouping.

• We are unable to obtain a pair of identical binomial factors (as in the earlier Grouping
example). Therefore, no further factoring is possible and we see that the expression has only
two factors, 5 and .
Factored:

2. : The terms of this expression appear to need no rearrangement. The first pair,
, are a Difference of Squares and the second pair, , have a GCF of 3:
• Factor each pair:
However, there is no GCF to factor out of these pairs of factors. The expression remains the
sum of polynomial products rather than the product of two or more polynomial factors
(the definition of the factored form).
• When one way of grouping doesn’t work, try another . . .
Rearrange the terms to form a Perfect Square Trinomial and a Difference of Squares:
This example is
• Factor the Difference of Squares: adapted from
Gustafson & Fisk,
th
College Algebra, 8
ed., Thompson
Factored: Learning, Inc. 2004,
p. 55.

Factoring steps and most examples are adapted from Professor Elias Juridini, Lamar State College‐Orange.