NewsSettingsHelp
Get Premium
Dashboard
Dashboard Sign out
Big Ideas Math Algebra 1 A Bridge to Success
BI
Big Ideas Math Algebra 1 A Bridge to Success View details
5. Factoring x^2 + bx + c
Continue to next subchapter
search

Exercise 2 Page 385

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 by 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 x^2+4x+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 in the previous step.

Since 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. x^2+4x+3_(Area) = (4+1)_(Width) (4+3)_(length)

Subchapter links expand_more
arrow_right Communicate Your Answer p.385
2
3
arrow_right Monitoring Progress p.386-388
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
arrow_right Exercises p.389-390
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55