Finite Math Examples

$x^{3} - 2 x^{2} + 9 x - 18$

Step 1

Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.

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Step 1.1

Group the first two terms and the last two terms.

$(x^{3} - 2 x^{2}) + 9 x - 18$

Step 1.2

Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.

$x^{2} (x - 2) + 9 (x - 2)$

Step 2

Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, $x - 2$ .

$(x - 2) (x^{2} + 9)$

Step 3

Multiply the constant in the polynomial $x^{2} + 9$ by $- i^{2}$ where $i^{2}$ is equal to $- 1$ .

$(x - 2) (x^{2} - 9 i^{2})$

Step 4

Rewrite $9 i^{2}$ as ${(3 i)}^{2}$ .

$(x - 2) (x^{2} - {(3 i)}^{2})$

Step 5

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - i^{2} = (a + i) (a - i)$ where $a = x$ and $i = 3 i$ .

$(x - 2) ((x + 3 i) (x - (3 i)))$

Step 6

Factor.

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Step 6.1

Multiply $3$ by $- 1$ .

$(x - 2) ((x + 3 i) (x - 3 i))$

Step 6.2

Remove unnecessary parentheses.

$(x - 2) (x + 3 i) (x - 3 i)$