Factoring

[jaunty galleon]

12a^4-28b^12-40a^2 b^6

[obtuse hollow]

like terms

factorise 2 similar terms

then simplify from there

[jaunty galleon]

4

[obtuse hollow]

wait

are there only 3 terms?

[jaunty galleon]

yes

[obtuse hollow]

yikes

yeah just factorise the entire tjing

see what you get

[jaunty galleon]

i got this from common factoring a 4

4(3a^4-7b^12-10a^2b^6)

but i wasn't able to simplify it further

[obtuse hollow]

you could maybe split the -10a^2b^2 into two -5a^2b^2

then factorise further

[jaunty galleon]

it's b^6

[obtuse hollow]

oh

b^3 then

mb

[jaunty galleon]

you can just split it up like that?

[obtuse hollow]

sorry

keep it -5a^2b^6

[jaunty galleon]

alright lets see

[obtuse hollow]

it kinda does nothing

ohh

wait

[jaunty galleon]

it leads to nothing

[obtuse hollow]

split it into -3a^2b^6 and a -7a^2b^6

then factorise the 3s and 7s

[jaunty galleon]

this is what the answer sheet says to do: 4(3a^2-7b^6)(a^2-b^6)

[obtuse hollow]

yeah you can get there

[jaunty galleon]

i'm not sure if the answer sheet is right though given the question

[obtuse hollow]

yeah its right

though you could factorise further than that

[jaunty galleon]

what do you mean

that's not illegal to do?

[obtuse hollow]

youre talking about it like its a crine

crime

[jaunty galleon]

😭

[obtuse hollow]

you get what i mean?

[jaunty galleon]

yo wth i didnt know you could split them up like that

[obtuse hollow]

i mean if you know your index laws well you just notice that stuff

[jaunty galleon]

yeah i dont know what those are

[obtuse hollow]

you could also futher factotise the a^2-b^6

as a difference of 2 squares

so itll become (a-b^3)(a+b^3)

and i think thats all you could do

[jaunty galleon]

damn

that question was a lot easier than i thought

alright thanks

[obtuse hollow]

np

type .solved to close the forum

[jaunty galleon]

.solved