We want to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the terms in the given expression.
y^2-y
To find the GCF of the variables, we need to identify the all possible variable factors in both terms.
\begin{aligned}
\textbf{Factors of }\bm{1^\textbf{st}}\textbf{ Variable:}&\ {\color{#FF0000}{y}}, y^2\\
\textbf{Factors of }\bm{2^\textbf{nd}}\textbf{ Variable:}&\ {\color{#FF0000}{y}}
\end{aligned}
We see that there is one repeated variable factor, y. Therefore, the GCF of the expression is y and now we can write the given expression in terms of the GCF.
y^2-y ⇔ y* y- y* 1
Finally, we will factor out the GCF.
y* y- y* 1 ⇔ y(y-1)
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.