Question

Factor the following polynomial
2x^2 + 6x

Answer 1

You can divide the x out to get x*(2x + 6), and then divide the 2 out to get (2x)(x+3)

Answer 2

can you walk we through it @Rollin

Answer 3

You're basically finding all numbers that divide the polynomial. So you need to find what divides 2x^2 and 6x. You can do this by factoring.
2x^2 is the same as 2*x*x, and 6x is the same as 2*3*x. (You can prime factor the integer component, and just separate out the variables.
Then you look at each component (2*x*x and 2*3*x) and take all the numbers that appear in both. There is a 2 in both of them, and an x in both of them. So you can pull those out, and you're left with (x and 3).
So factored, you get 2x (the factors you pulled out of both parts of the polynomial), and what is left, or x + 3. So its (2x)*(x+3)