General Factoring: Providing descriptions of steps taken

[Jinny]

Use what you have learned about these special cases and the process of factoring completely to answer the questions below. Be sure that you express your thoughts in complete sentences.

1) Use three or more sentences to describe how you identify whether or not a polynomial is a difference of two squares. Then, factor the polynomial 4x^2 - 36.

2) Use three or more sentences to describe how you identify whether or not a polynomial is a perfect square trinomial. Then, factor the polynomial x^2 - 40x + 400.

3) Consider the factoring process that has been illustrated below. Use three or more sentences to describe the process used to factor this polynomial.

3y^3 + 4y^2 - 12y - 16
= y^2(3y + 4) - 4(3y + 4)
= (3y + 4)(y^2 - 4)
= (3y + 4)(y + 2)(y - 2)

4) Use three or more sentences to describe the process you would follow to completely factor the polynomial 3x^6 + 24.

I basically need help discribing... I don't really get it and it's a bit confusing...

 

[stapel]

The "describing" process is just a matter of writing down what you did. So do the factorizations, and then write out, in words, the steps you took, as though you were explaining your work to a fellow student.

That's all there is to it!

Eliz.