Identify Common Factor: First, we look for a common factor in all three terms of the polynomial 3x3−39x2+36x. We can see that each term has a factor of 3x, so we factor out 3x from each term. 3x(x2−13x+12)
Factor Quadratic Expression: Now we need to factor the quadratic expression x2−13x+12. We look for two numbers that multiply to 12 (the constant term) and add up to −13 (the coefficient of the x term).The numbers that satisfy these conditions are −3 and −4, since (−3)×(−4)=12 and (−3)+(−4)=−7.Therefore, we can factor the quadratic as (x−3)(x−4).3x(x−3)(x−4)
Check Factoring and Correct Mistake: We check our factoring by expanding the factors to see if we get the original polynomial. 3x(x−3)(x−4)=3x(x2−4x−3x+12)=3x(x2−7x+12)Expanding further, we get 3x3−21x2+36x, which is not the original polynomial.We made a mistake in the previous step; the correct numbers should add up to −13, not −7.
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