What is the greatest common factor of each set of terms? 

(example: GCF of 10 and 12 is 2 because it's the biggest number that divides into both)

5 and 15

3x and 12x

24xyz and 36x^2y

I can find and factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from a set of terms.

Yo! This is the opposite of the distributive property.

We are going to need this skill for our first factoring strategy.

How do you find and factor out the GCF of terms?

Here is a long way to help you understand:

6x^4 – 12x^3 + 4x^2

• Use prime factorization to expand each term

• Find what all terms have in common

• Pull that out front

• Recombine each term inside

Let's do some examples:

2x + 14

3y^2 + 6y + 9

6x^2 + 5x

4x^3 - 20x^2

10x^3y^2z + 30x^2yz

Let's get telepathic!

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