Answer: Factoring is essentially the reverse of the distributive property. You are basically trying to simplify the polynomial by taking out common factors. You also may try reducing the power (or the highest exponent) of the polynomial with factoring. I would say that factoring is the breaking down of a bigger polynomial into a product of two expressions that are usually multiplied by each other. One specific use of factoring we see a lot is the quadratic formula.
1. Quadratic Factoring --> [tex]x^2+2x-15[/tex] --> we have an [tex]x^2[/tex] but we want there to only be "[tex]x[/tex]"s. Here we need to constant numbers (integers), that multiply together to get [tex]-15[/tex], and add up to [tex]+2[/tex]. (5 and -3)
- [tex]x^2+2x-15[/tex] ==> [tex]x^2+5x-3x-15[/tex] ==> [tex]x(x+5)-3(x+5)[/tex] ==> [tex](x-3)(x+5)[/tex]
Above: We can see that we factor out [tex]x[/tex] from [tex]x^2+5x[/tex] (This shows that we are aiming to break it down to make it easier to evaluate).
Remember: Factoring does not always mean that the polynomial is in a simpler form. There are many situations where factoring is totally unnecessary and complicates the polynomial even more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On a separate note: Distributive Property, if you are unsure or not fully sure on what that means, is when you multiply two expressions together to create one expression. Multiple expressions are combining into one.
