Try to think of the greatest common factor between the coefficients and between the variables separately.
2y(4x-8x^3+5)
Practice makes perfect
We want to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the terms in the given expression. To do so we will consider the coefficients and variables separately.
8 xy- 16 x^3y+ 10 y
Let's start by finding the GCF of 8, 16, and 10.
Factors of8:& 1, 2,4,and8
Factors of16:& 1, 2,4,8,and 16
Factors of10:& 1, 2,5,and 10
We found that the GCF of the coefficients is 2. To find the GCF of the variables, we need to identify the variables repeated in both terms, and write them with their minimum exponents.
\begin{aligned}
\textbf{Factors of }\bm{1^\text{st}}\textbf{ Variable:}&\ x, {\color{#FF0000}{y}}\\
\textbf{Factors of }\bm{2^\text{nd}}\textbf{ Variable:}&\ x, x^2, x^3, {\color{#FF0000}{y}}, \\
&\ xy, x^2y, x^3y\\
\textbf{Factors of }\bm{3^\text{rd}}\textbf{ Variable:}&\ {\color{#FF0000}{y}}
\end{aligned}
We see that there is one repeated variable factor, y. Thus, the GCF of the expression is 2* y= 2y. Now we can write the given expression in terms of the GCF.
8xy-16x^3y+10y ⇕ 2y* 4x- 2y* 8x^3+ 2y* 5
Finally, we will factor out the GCF.
2y* 4x- 2y* 8x^3+ 2y* 5 ⇕ 2y(4x-8x^3+5)
Checking Our Answer
Check your answer âś“
To check our answer we can apply the Distributive Property and compare the result with the given expression.
