rFactor

The rFactor command is located under transformations.

Figure 1 - Location of the rFactor command

The rFactor command stands for "root factor" and is used to show the factors of an expression when a surd is present. For quadratics this occurs when the discriminant (Δ) is not a perfect square.

Important: If you attempt to factorise and expression with irrational roots (surds) using the factor command, instead of rFactor, it will return the same expression (unfactorised) - see example below.

Note: Do not attempt to use rFactor over the complex set of number.

Figure 2 - The factor and rFactor command in action on the same expression.