How do you factor out the GCF of $40a ^ { 6} b ^ { 5} - 50a^ { 5} b ^ { 6}$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2017-07-21T05:11:37

Find the largest coefficient and degree that can divide all values.

The GCF is the greatest factor that can divide all terms (unless you choose not to factor it out).

First off, we have to find a value that can divide the coefficients.

In this case, it is $10$ . No other number can divide $40$ and $50$ .

Therefore, the first number is $10$ .

$40a^6b^5 - 50a^5b^6$

$10(4a^6b^5 - 5a^5b^6)$

The next step are the variables. For these, we must use the largest degree that all terms share. For $a$ , it is $5$ and same for $b$ .

$10a^5b^5(4b - 5a)$

And that's it.

Hope this helps :)

How do you factor out the GCF of 40a ^ { 6} b ^ { 5} - 50a^ { 5} b ^ { 6}40a ^ { 6} b ^ { 5} - 50a^ { 5} b ^ { 6}?