How do you factor completely 27x3−125y3?
1 Answer
Apr 26, 2016
Explanation:
Notice that both of the terms are perfect cubes:
27x3=(3x)3
125y3=(5y)3
So we can conveniently use the difference of cubes identity:
A3−B3=(A−B)(A2+AB+B2)
with
27x3−125y3
=(3x)3−(5y)3
=(3x−5y)((3x)2+(3x)(5y)+(5y)2)
=(3x−5y)(9x2+15xy+25y2)
The remaining quadratic factor has no linear factors with Real coefficients. If we allow Complex coefficients then we can factor a little further:
=(3x−5y)(3x−5ωy)(3x−5ω2y)
where