Factorising

In the lesson on Factors we learnt that factors are numbers that can be multiplied together to make other numbers. 2 and 3 are two of the factors of 6, for example (the others are 1 and 6).

$6 = 2 \times 3$

We have also learnt how to expand brackets

We have seen that $(x + 5)^2 = x^2 + 10x + 25$

Factorising is the reverse of expanding brackets. It is writing an expression in terms of its factors. Often this involves rearranging the equation so that some of it is in brackets.

An example of this is the equation above. We can factorise $x^2 + 10x + 25$ into $(x + 5)(x+5)$ or $(x + 5)^2$

Here is another example. We can factorise $3x +$ into $3(x+5)$

Previous Lesson

Back to Course

Next Lesson

Quadratic equations

Factorising