Level 2 Certificate Mathematics · key term

Linear factor

Definition

A degree-one expression, such as $x-2$ or $2x-3$ , which multiplies another polynomial to give the original polynomial exactly.

Used by AQA

Specification 2.11 · Paper 1, Paper 2

1
Find the substitution value by setting the proposed linear factor equal to zero. For $ax+b$ , substitute $x=-\frac{b}{a}$ .

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ab

2

Once you have found one linear factor of a cubic, find the remaining quadratic algebraically rather than continuing to guess roots.