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What is the opposite of FOIL(Math) ?

ex. x2 – 7x + 12

when you have to add to get 7 and multiply to get 12,

What is this process called?

2 Answers

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  • 7 years ago

    FOIL is example of distributing.

    The reverse operation is factoring.

    Example:

    x² - 7x + 12

    Split -7x into -3x and -4x:

    x² - 3x - 4x + 12

    Factor each pair:

    x(x - 3) - 4(x - 3)

    Factor out the common (x - 3)

    (x - 4)(x - 3)

  • 7 years ago

    It's called factoring.

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