Question

A. Rod told you that x + 1 is one of the factors of ax2 – a. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Write down your step-by-step way of factoring this kind of polynomial. Your answer will be assessed according to this rubrics

Answer 1

Answer:

$a {x}^{2} - a$

then you multiple the a's

${x}^{2} - {a}^{2}$

use square root factor

$\sqrt{ {x}^{2} } + - { \sqrt{a} }^{2}$

which makes

$(x - a)(x + a)$

then you divide the a by a to get

$(x + 1)(x - 1)$

so yes x + 1 is a factor