Question
Factor polynomial $$ -50a^{2}+40ab-8b^{2} $$
Answer
$$ -50a^{2}+40ab-8b^{2} = -2(5a-2b)(5a-2b) $$
Explanation
Step 1 :
Factor out common factor $ \color{blue}{ -2 } $:
$$ -50a^2+40ab-8b^2 = -2 ( 25a^2-20ab+4b^2 ) $$Step 2 :
Note that the polynomial $ 25a^2-20ab+4b^2 $ is a perfect square trinomial, so we will use the following formula.
$$ A^2 - 2AB + B^2 = (A - B)^2 $$In this example we have $ \color{blue}{ A = 5a } $ and $ \color{red}{ B = 2b } $ so,
$$ 25a^2-20ab+4b^2 = ( \color{blue}{ 5a } - \color{red}{ 2b } )^2 $$This page was created using
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