Question

How do you factor `12a^2b + 30ab^2`?

Answer 1

`6ab(2a+5b)`

Here's how I did it:

Explanation:

To factor something, you have to see what everything has in common.

So first we find the LCM (largest common multiple) of `12` and `30`. That is `6`.

We also find the LCM of `a^2b` and `ab^2`, which is `ab`. Now we take out the two LCMs, `6` and `ab`, multiply them by each other, and leave whatever was not factored out added in a parenthesis, like this:
`6ab(2a+5b)`

Hope this helps!