We want to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the terms in the given expression.
x^2y^2+xy
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{#0000FF}{x}}, x^2, {\color{#0000FF}{y}}, y^2, {\color{#FF0000}{xy}}, x^2y, xy^2, x^2y^2\\
\textbf{Factors of }\bm{2^\textbf{nd}}\textbf{ Variable:}&\ {\color{#0000FF}{x}}, {\color{#0000FF}{y}}, {\color{#FF0000}{xy}}
\end{aligned}
We see that there are two repeated variable factors. Their maximum exponents are x= x^1 and y= y^1. Therefore, the GCF of the variables is x* y= xy. Now we can write the given expression in terms of the GCF.
x^2y^2+xy ⇔ xy* xy+ xy* 1
Finally, we will factor out the GCF.
xy* xy+ xy*1 ⇔ xy(xy+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.