Browsed by
Tag: factoring trinomials

Flipped Friday – Imaginary Numbers?

Flipped Friday – Imaginary Numbers?

In my Intermediate Algebra course, we finished our work with rational equations and their applications this Wednesday. On Monday I plan to get through solving quadratic equations by factoring, by extracting square roots, by completing the square, and by the quadratic formula. I thought I’d walk you through my thoughts for setting up the Flip assignment for that day. Flip Topic 1: Factoring Trinomials and Differences of Squares These are review topics from Elementary Algebra, and students have been factoring…

Read More Read More

Factoring Trinomials (x^2+bx+c): Sometimes You Should Start With b, Not c

Factoring Trinomials (x^2+bx+c): Sometimes You Should Start With b, Not c

In today’s class we ran into the trinomial This can be challenging for students just learning to factor because they are not familiar with the factor set of 208. Traditionally I recommend that students follow the 10-second rule: If you cannot find the correct factor pairing within 10 seconds, you should move on to listing all factor pairs of c. This would result in the following pairs: That means that students need to try 13 potential factors (1 through 13)…

Read More Read More