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Big Ideas Math Algebra 1 A Bridge to Success
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Big Ideas Math Algebra 1 A Bridge to Success View details
6. Factoring ax^2 + bx + c
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Exercise 2 Page 391

The expression we want to factor is represented using algebra tiles, which we can arrange to constitute the area of a rectangle.

See solution.

Practice makes perfect

We can follow the steps given in Exploration 1 to factor a polynomial of the form ax^2+bx+c using algebra tiles.

  1. Arrange the algebra tiles that model the product in a rectangular array.
  2. Use additional algebra tiles to model the dimensions of the rectangle.
  3. Write the polynomial in factored form using the dimensions of the rectangular array.
For example, consider that we want to factor the product 2x^2+7x+3. Therefore, we should first represent this expression using algebra tiles. Then we need to arrange them in a rectangular array.

Now, using additional algebra tiles we model the dimensions of the rectangular array obtained at the previous step.

The area of a rectangle is obtained as the product of its dimensions. We can factor the original expression as the product of the expressions representing the dimensions of the rectangular array. 2x^2+7x+3_(Area) = (x+3)_(Width) (2x+1)_(length)

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arrow_right Communicate Your Answer p.391
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arrow_right Monitoring Progress p.393-394
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arrow_right Exercises p.395-396
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