March 18/08

Today March 18/2008 in pre cal 20s we learned how to do factoring.
Factoring:
We now begin a discussion of the algebraic operation called factoring. Factoring an expression is to rewrite the expression entirely as a polynomial product.
Factoring Over the Integer:
A polynomial is considered completely factored when there are no more variable factors can be removed. No more integer factor, other than 1 or -1 can be removed. The steps for this process is 1. find the GCF (greatest common factor). 2. What is the GCF of the coefficients (exponents)? 3. What is the GCF of the variables (letters)? 4. Check: Multiply and see if you get the same expression that you started with.
Factoring by Grouping?
Some polynomials do not have a common factor in all their terms. These polynomials can sometimes be factored by grouping terms that do have a common factor.
The assignments we had assigned to us today are: page 120 #11-22 and page 120 #30-36