Question

How do you factor `2x^2 - 40x`?

Answer 1

`2x(x-20)`

Explanation:

Remember that factoring means to "take out" a common factor from each term, namely one from `2x^2` and one from `40x`.

It happens to be the case that both, `2x^2` and `40x` are divisible by `2`, and both share an `x`, which means that we can take out a `2` as well as an `x`, giving us

`2x^2 - 40x -> 2x(x-20)`