Andrew factored the expression -30x^3-9x^2-3x as -5x(6x^2-2x-1) . But when Melissa applied the distributive law and multiplied out -5x(6x^2-2x-1) , she got -30x^3+10x^2+5x ; thus, Andrew’s solution does not appear to check. Why is that? Please help Andrew to understand this better. Explain your reasoning and correctly factor the original expression, if possible. If the expression is prime, so state.

Question

Andrew factored the expression -30x^3-9x^2-3x  as -5x(6x^2-2x-1) . But when Melissa applied the distributive law and multiplied out -5x(6x^2-2x-1) , she got -30x^3+10x^2+5x ; thus, Andrew’s solution does not appear to check. Why is that? Please help Andrew to understand this better. Explain your reasoning and correctly factor the original expression, if possible. If the expression is prime, so state.

anonymous · Answer

how does andrew factor a 5 from 9 and 3? thats where he went wrong. This expression is prime because it cannot be factored