Question

How do you factor completely `2x^3+2x^2-12x`?

Answer 1

`2x(x+3)(x-2)`

Explanation:

To factor an algebraic expression means to find the algebraic numbers which when multiplied together will yield the expression.

In this case the most obvious common factor is `2x`. So you can rewrite the expression as a product of:

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

but you can factorise `(x^2+x-6)` further into `(x+3)(x-2)`