Factorising is the mathematical art of reversing expansion
In short: Understand the fundamental logic of algebra by learning how to pull expressions apart into their core components. This video explains how to identify common factors to simplify complex terms into a single bracketed form.
Factorising is the process of identifying and extracting the highest common factor (HCF) from an expression to place it outside of brackets. It serves as the direct opposite of expanding brackets, which removes them. For example, to factorise 12x - 8, one must identify 4 as the highest common factor of both terms, resulting in the expression 4(3x - 2).
The process requires determining what must be multiplied by the HCF to return to the original terms. To ensure accuracy, the method emphasizes a verification step: expanding the resulting brackets to see if they return to the initial expression. While this lesson focuses on single brackets, the principle scales to multiple brackets as well.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Factorising Expressions - Single Brackets | Algebra | Maths | FuseSchool
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