De, Prithwijit
(2023)
To factor or not to factor.
At Right Angles.
pp. 30-31.
ISSN 2582-1873
Abstract
Factorisation of algebraic expressions is an integral part of school algebra curriculum. Most of the expressions one deals with involve at most two variables and their degrees are either 2 or 3. The process of finding factors relies heavily on the ability to make astute observations and clever reductions to some standard forms such as u2 − v2 or u3 ± v3. Rarely does one encounter expressions of degree 4 or higher with the exception of x4 + x2y2 + y4 which can be reduced to the u2 − v2 form by writing it as (x4 + 2x2 y 2 + y 4 ) − x2 y 2 = (x2 + y 2 ) 2 − (xy) 2 .
Actions (login required)
|
View Item |