Question

Explain a fast and easy way to factor.

Answer 1

The best way for it to become fast and easy is to practice a lot. I always look for any common factors and pull them out. It'll be much easier to break it down that way. What I do after that depends on how many terms there are. If there are only three terms, I look at the first and third coefficients and write down the factors of both. I then see if there is any way to get the middle coefficient using those factors. If so, I have it factored. If not, I check to make sure I did it correctly, then deem it unfactorable. When there are more than 3 terms, I group easily factorable items togethers and make judicious use of parentheses and brackets.