Question

Factor a3 - 3 + 3a2 - a.

HELP!!
A. (a - 1)(a + 1)(a + 3)
B. (a2+ 1)(a - 3)
C. (a2- 3)(a + 1)

Answer 1

You should definitely put it in standard form as the first step.

Answer 2

ok

Answer 3

This can be done by "factoring by grouping". Let's write it out in standard form, as suggested:
\[a^3+3a^2-a-3\]
Now we'll group it into two chunks:
\[(a^3+3a^2)-1(a+3)\]
Notice that I pulled out a -1 from the last two terms. The reason why will become apparent shortly.

Answer 4

Now can you factor the first group at all? \((a^3+3a^2)\)

Answer 5

What is the largest common factor of \(a^3+3a^2\)?

Answer 6

idk

Answer 7

Find the largest item that is common in both of the items..

Answer 8

Here, let's write it as \[a^3+3a^2 = a*a*a + 3*a*a\]

Answer 9

^ Exactly

Answer 10

Remember the distributive property? \[x(y+z) = x*y + x*z\]We're trying to do that in reverse.

Answer 11

We've got \(x*y + x*z\) and we want to split it back into \( x (y+z)\)