Question

Factorise the following by taking out the common factors:
4x²y³ - 6x³y² - 12xy²

Answer 1

4x²y³ - 6x³y² - 12xy²
Here, the common factor is 2xy².
Dividing throughout by 2xy², we get

`(4x^2y^3)/(2xy^2) - (6x^3y^2)/(2xy^2) - (12xy^2)/(2xy^2)`
= 2xy - 3x² - 6
∴ 4x²y² - 6x³y² - 12xy²
= 2xy²[2xy - 3x² - 6].