Question

Factor -3bk 2 + 9bk - 6b.

Answer 1

Is this supposed to be

\(\large -3bk^2 + 9bk - 6b\) ?

Answer 2

yes

Answer 3

The first rule of factoring is to try to factor a common factor.
Do you see a common factor in all terms?

Answer 4

no

Answer 5

Does each term have a factor of b?

Answer 6

yes

Answer 7

OK. Now look at the numbers -3, 9, and -6.
These are the coefficients of the terms.
All of them have a factor of -3.
That means all terms have a common factor of -3b

Answer 8

The first job in factoring is factoring out a common term if possible.
We can factor out -3b.
Let's do that first.

\(\large -3bk^2 + 9bk - 6b\)

\(= \large -3b(k^2 -3k +2) \)

Answer 9

Now we need to factor the trinomial.
We need two numbers that multiply to 2 that add up to -3.
The numbers are -2 and -1.

\(= \large -3b(k^2 -3k +2) \)

\(= \large -3b(k -2)(k -1) \)

Now it is fully factored.

Answer 10

wow thanks

Answer 11

You're welcome.