Factoring by Grouping

Mathematics — Second Preparatory

Common mistakes

Making groups that do not share a common bracket. In that case, rearrange the terms.
Forgetting to change the sign when taking out a negative factor. For −2y + 4, the correct form is −2(y − 2).
Confusing factoring by grouping with taking out the GCF of the whole expression. Here the method is applied to groups first, and then to the bracket.
Not checking the answer by multiplying back.

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