Question

Select 2 different ways of factoring:-5x - 15Your answer:-5(x + 3)-5(-x - 3)05(x + 3)05(-x - 3)

Answer 1

The expression to factor is given as:

$-5x-15$

We can factor this in 2 ways by:

• Taking a 5 as common from both terms

,

• Taking a -5 as common from both terms

First, let's take "5" common from both terms:

$\begin{gathered} -5x-15 \\ =5(-x-3) \end{gathered}$

Next, let's take "-5" common from both terms:

$\begin{gathered} -5x-15 \\ =-5(x+3) \end{gathered}$The two ways to factor are:$\begin{gathered} 5(-x-3) \\ \text{and} \\ -5(x+3) \end{gathered}$