Greatest Common Factor Guided Notes

There is a mistake in number 9. 48 divided by 6 is ______. The correct factorization should look like ______

• 4

• 8

• 6xy(x²y + 2x - 4)

• 6xy(x²y + 2x - 8)

Factoring is the process of rewriting a polynomial as a product of two or more _____________

If a polynomial cannot be factored, then it is called _________

The greatest common factor (GCF) is the greatest ​ (a)   that divides into EACH term of the polynomial. To find the GCF:

1. 1. Look at the ​ (b)   . Determine the largest number that divides into each term.

2. 2. Loot at the ​ (c)   . A variable must be in all terms to be a GCF. If it is present in all terms, the GCF will be the variable with the smallest exponent.

3. After you have determined the GCF, you can factor by ​ (d)   each term by the GCF. In factored form, the GCF will go in front of the parenthesis and the remaining factors will be left inside the parenthesis.

4. Check your work by ​ (e)   .

• monomial
• coefficients
• variables
• dividing
• distributing