MTH 219 Wk 3 Discussion – Factoring

Post a total of 3 substantive responses over 2 separate days for full participation. This includes your initial post and 2 replies to other students.

Due Thursday

Post a response of at least 175 words to one of the discussion prompts:

Prompt 1

Watch the following Week 3 videos:

• Patrick Just Math Tutorials: “Factoring Trinomials (a Quadratic Trinomial) by Trial and Error”
• Patrick Just Math Tutorials: “Factoring Using the Great Common Factor, GCF – Ex 1”
• Patrick Just Math Tutorials: “Factoring By Grouping – Ex 1”

Answer the following questions:

• How do you know when you’ve found the greatest common factor?
• How does the method of factoring using the greatest common factor differ from using the method of grouping?
• Which method do you prefer for factoring? Why? Include an example in your explanation.

Prompt 2

Watch one of the following Week 3 videos:

• Patrick Just Math Tutorials: “Factoring Trinomials by Trial and Error – Ex 2”
• Patrick Just Math Tutorials: “Factoring by Grouping – Ex 1”

Answer the following questions:

• What process do you use to factor polynomials when the leading coefficient is not 1 (example: ax2 + bx + c)?
• How does this differ from factoring polynomials when the leading coefficient is 1 (example: x2 + bx + c)?
• Give two examples with your explanation. One of your examples should be for ax2 + bx + c and the other example for x2 + bx +c.

Prompt 3

Watch the following Week 3 video:

• Patrick Just Math Tutorials: “Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring – Basic Examples”

Answer the following question:

• Is it possible to solve every quadratic equation by factoring? Why or why not?

Due Monday

Reply to at least 2 of your classmates. Be constructive and professional in your responses.

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