How do you factor polynomials?

In mathematics, factorization or factoring is the breaking apart of a polynomial into a product of other smaller polynomials. If you choose, you could then multiply these factors together, and you should get the original polynomial (this is a great way to check yourself on your factoring skills). One set of factors, for example, of 24 is 6 and 4 because 6 times 4 = 24. When you have a polynomial, one way of solving it is to factor it into the product of two binomials.

You have multiple factoring options to choose from when solving polynomial equations:

For a polynomial, no matter how many terms it has, always check for a greatest common factor (GCF) first. Literally, the greatest common factor is the biggest expression that will go into all of the terms. Using the GCF is like doing the distributive property backward.

Step-by-step explanation: