X3 + 6X2 - 2x – 12?

Question

Factor by grouping.

Answer 1

First group the first two terms and the second two terms

(x^3 + 6x^2) - (2x + 12) (You have to change -12 to +12 because you introduced parentheses after a minus sign.)

Next factor an x^2 out of the first group and a 2 out of the second group

x^2(x + 6) - 2(x + 6)

Now notice that (x+6) is a common factor in both "terms," so you can factor that out to get the final factorization:

(x + 6)(x^2 - 2)

(If you wanted all the factors to be linear, you could factor (x^2 -2) as a difference of squares to get (x + 6)(x + sqrt(2))(x - sqrt(2)), but most people would probably leave it as (x + 6)(x^2 - 2))

Answer 2

(x2-2) (x+6)

Answer 3

(X2 -2) (X+6)

Answer 4

= (X^3-2X)+(6X^2-12)
=X(X^2-2)+6(X^2-2)
=(X+6)(X^2-2)
=(X+6)(X+SQRT(2))(X-SQRT(2))