Q:

Complete the steps to factor 56x2 – 8x – 7x + 1 by grouping. group pairs of terms with common factors. (56x2 – 8x) + (–7x + 1) factor the gcf from each group. 8x(7x – 1) –1(7x – 1) use the distributive property. what is the factorization of the polynomial? (8x – 1)(7x – 1) (8x + 1)(7x – 1) (8x + 7x)(1 – 1)

Accepted Solution

A:
(8x-1)(7x-1) The question leaves you with the partially factored equation: 8x(7x-1) - 1(7x-1) Now if you look at the partially factored equation, you'll see that both terms have (7x-1) as one of their factors. So let's take that (7x-1) as a factor and divide both terms by (7x-1), giving us (8x(7x-1) - 1(7x-1)) / (7x-1) The (7x-1) factors cancel out, leaving us with (8x - 1) So our 2 factors are (7x-1) and (8x-1). Looking at the available options, the only correct one is (8x-1)(7x-1)