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Algebra 1 (Eureka Math/EngageNY)
Unit 4: Lesson 2
Topic A: Lessons 1-2: Common factor- Greatest common factor of monomials
- Greatest common factor of monomials
- Greatest common factor of monomials
- Factoring with the distributive property
- Factoring polynomials by taking a common factor
- Taking common factor from binomial
- Taking common factor from trinomial
- Taking common factor: area model
- Factoring polynomials: common binomial factor
- Factor polynomials: common factor
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Greatest common factor of monomials
Sal finds the greatest common factor of 10cd^2 and 25c^3d^2. Created by Sal Khan and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.
Want to join the conversation?
- what dos monomial mean?(2 votes)
- It is an algebraic expression consisting of one term.(3 votes)
- Well...What's the difference between a polynomial and a monomial?(2 votes)
- Also, polynomials can have any number of terms, as long as it is more than one.(2 votes)
- how is are the monomials used in life?(2 votes)
- Monomials by themselves don't have a lot of every day applications for most people. However, we have to know how to work with monomials to do any work at all with polynomials. Polynomials help us find equations for curves. This lets us do the math needed to build roller coasters, launch rockets into space, manufacture car parts that are curved...the list goes on for a long time.
A lot of skills in Algebra 1 are like that. They are stepping stones that get us the skills needed to work with bigger topics that have clear applications.
I hope that helped.(3 votes)
- do you have practice covering this topic(2 votes)
- No, they do not have practice. These units are just preparing you for the units to come.(2 votes)
- Is there any other way like Saxon's technique?(2 votes)
- Just wondering, how do you calculate the greatest common factor of, say 56?(2 votes)
- The greatest common factor deals with two expressions, not one, so 56 doesn't have a GCF by itself because there's not another number to compare it to. If you're talking about breaking a constant expression down into its constituent factors, all you'd have to do is find all the numbers you can multiply by to get 56. Those would be 2(28), 4(14), and 8(7).(3 votes)
- what to do if a number is negative? for example -6t + 9t.(2 votes)
- To find the GCF you can ignore the sign. For -6t + 9t the GCF is 3.(2 votes)
- is there another way to do this?(2 votes)
- If you can find the greatest common factor of two monomials, can't you find the least common multiple of two monomials using the same way to do it?(2 votes)
- i don't understand how the greatest common factor can be the 5 AND the c AND the d^2, wouldn't it have to be only one of them?(2 votes)
- No, because all of those values/variables are different, and cannot be combined. Since they cannot be combined, 5cd^2 is as simplified as it can get.(1 vote)
Video transcript
Find the greatest common
factor of these monomials. Now, the greatest common
factor of anything is the largest factor
that's divisible into both. If we're talking about just
pure numbers, into both numbers, or in this case,
into both monomials. Now, we have to be
a little bit careful when we talk about
greatest in the context of algebraic
expressions like this. Because it's greatest
from the point of view that it includes the most
factors of each of these monomials. It's not necessarily the
greatest possible number because maybe some
of these variables could take on
negative values, maybe they're taking on
values less than 1. So if you square
it, it's actually going to become
a smaller number. But I think without getting
too much into the weeds there, I think if we just kind of
run through the process of it, you'll understand it
a little bit better. So to find the
greatest common factor, let's just essentially
break down each of these numbers
into what we could call their prime factorization. But it's kind of a combination
of the prime factorization of the numeric
parts of the number, plus essentially
the factorization of the variable parts. If we were to
write 10cd squared, we can rewrite
that as the product of the prime factors of 10. The prime factorization
of 10 is just 2 times 5. Those are both prime numbers. So 10 can be broken
down as 2 times 5. c can only be broken down by c. We don't know anything else
that c can be broken into. So 2 times 5 times c. But then the d squared can
be rewritten as d times d. This is what I mean by writing
this monomial essentially as the product of
its constituents. For the numeric part of
it, it's the constituents of the prime factors. And for the rest
of it, we're just kind of expanding
out the exponents. Now, let's do that for 25c
to the third d squared. So 25 right here,
that's 5 times 5. So this is equal to 5 times 5. And then c to the third,
that's times c times c times c. And then d squared,
times d squared. d squared is times d times d. So what's their greatest
common factor in this context? Well, they both
have at least one 5. Then they both have at
least one c over here. So let's just take up one
of the c's right over there. And then they both have two d's. So the greatest common factor
in this context, the greatest common factor of
these two monomials is going to be the factors
that they have in common. So it's going to be equal to
this 5 times-- we only have one c in common, times--
and we have two d's in common, times d times d. So this is equal to 5cd squared. And so 5d squared, we can kind
of view it as the greatest. But I'll put that
in quotes depending on whether c is
negative or positive and d is greater
than or less than 0. But this is the greatest common
factor of these two monomials. It's divisible
into both of them, and it uses the most
factors possible.