It is my hope that this re-organization will make it easier for teachers to find much-needed resources when they are searching my blog. You might be interested in a few of these new pages like The Constant Chair Regression Activity or The No Fives Dice Activity for Modeling Exponential Decay. Over the last couple of days, I have been going back through these resources that I originally blogged about and giving each resource its own individual page. I’ve been a fan of this factoring puzzle for factoring quadratic trinomials since I worked through it at a Common Core workshop I attended (OGAP) in the summer of 2013. Want to check out my favorite Amazon items for the classroom? Check out my Amazon favorites page! As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. will feature a similar feature.This blog post contains Amazon affiliate links. Most of the linked questions DS in the Reinforcement Activities box at. So, if a DS question asked 'What is the value of x?' and statement 1 was x² + 2x - 15 = 0, then statement 1 is NOT sufficient (since x can be either -5 or 3) This means that EITHER x + 5 = 0 OR x - 3 = 0 As you can see by the above examples, this is not necessarily true.Ĭonsider this quadratic equation: x² + 2x - 15 = 0 Many students will incorrectly conclude that, if AB = 0, then A and B must BOTH equal zero. Or it COULD be the case that A = 0 and B = 0 Or it COULD be the case that A = 3 and B = 0 This question highlights an important concept: If AB = 0, then EITHER A = 0 OR B = 0įor example, if AB = 0, then it COULD be the case that A = 0 and B = 1 I'll leave it to you to try factoring the second expression. We want 9xĮxpand and simplify to get: (2x + 3)(x + 3) = 2x² + 9x + 9 There aren't that many options where the product of two integers equals 9Īt this point, we can start TESTING some options.Įxpand and simplify to get: (2x + 1)(x + 9) = 2x² + 19x + 9 So, we already know that 2x² + 9x + 9 = (2x + b)(x + d)

If we limit ourselves to integer vales, then there's only one way to get a product of 2x² Well, we know that ac = 2x² (applying the FOIL method) What can we conclude about some of the values? Let's say the expression (2x² + 9x + 9) can be factored to look something like: (a + b)(c + d) However, if you do encounter a quadratic equation where the coefficient of the x² is NOT 1, then you can typically factor the expression by applying some number sense and testing some values. On the GMAT, you'll typically see quadratic equations that look like the following: There's a formal technique for factoring quadratics where the coefficient of the x² is NOT 1, but for the purposes of the GMAT, we can typically apply the informal method describe below. GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 650 to 800) - GMAT Prep Now.GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 650 to 800) - GMAT Club.GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 500 to 650) – GMAT Club.

GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 500 to 650) - GMAT Prep Now.GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 500 to 650) - GMAT Official Guide.GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 500 to 650) - GMAT Club.GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 350 to 500) – GMAT Club.GMAT practice question (difficulty level: 350 to 500) - GMAT Official Guide.

Factoring quadratic equations practice