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Is there a greatest common factor? What other factoring technique could you use according to the number of terms?
Prime
We want to factor the given polynomial. Note that it has two terms.
Since the given polynomial is a sum, we cannot use the difference of two squares. Furthermore, although the first term is a cube, the second one is not. Therefore, we cannot use the sum nor the difference of two cubes. The given polynomial cannot be factored; it is prime.
| Number of Terms | Factoring Technique |
|---|---|
| Any number | Greatest Common Factor (GCF) |
| Two | Difference of Two Squares, Sum of Two Cubes, or Difference of Two Cubes |
| Three | Perfect Square Trinomials, or General Trinomials |
| Four or More | Grouping |