2
$\begingroup$

I didn't study maths in English so apologies for this trivial question.

How do you say in English when you have a formula 3n + 3 and you want someone to convert it into 3(n+1) I only know about "rearrange" but that's usually about equality, like U=I*R can be rearranged to U/I = R etc. Isn't there a more explicit word for this?

For example if I expect 4a - 4b to be the final result from 2a - 4b + 2a and someone also does this 4(a - b), what would I say?

Replace the end of sentences (those are my guesses):
"I want you to just add polynomials, you didn't have to <segregate the 4>?"
"I want you to just add polynomials, don't worry about <inverse of redistribution>?"

$\endgroup$
5
  • $\begingroup$ "Factorize", perhaps? $\endgroup$ – player3236 Nov 14 '20 at 9:26
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ The word you are looking for is "factorise" (British English) or "factorize" (US English) $\endgroup$ – tomi Nov 14 '20 at 9:31
  • $\begingroup$ so will it be "you didn't have to factorise the 4"? and "dont worry about factorisation?" $\endgroup$ – Daniel Katz Nov 14 '20 at 9:34
  • $\begingroup$ "don't worry about the factorising" and "you didn't have to take 4 out as a factor" $\endgroup$ – tomi Nov 14 '20 at 10:28
  • $\begingroup$ Please use MathJax to format math on this site. $\endgroup$ – g.kov Nov 14 '20 at 14:10
3
$\begingroup$
  1. The operation $$ab + ac = a(b+c)$$ is often called " factoring out the common factor ", where the common factor is $a$ here.
  • " I wanted you to add polynomials, you didn't have to factor out 4 "
  • " I wanted you to add polynomials, don't worry about factoring out the common factor "
  1. The operation $$a(b+c) = ab + ac$$ is often called " expanding the brackets ".
  • " If your answer is already factorized, do not expand the brackets "
$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ Great thanks! Can you pls confirm factorising as the inverse of factoring out? $\endgroup$ – Daniel Katz Nov 14 '20 at 9:52
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ No, the inverse of factoring is distributing. If you are going from a(b+c) to ab+ac, you are distributing the a over the b+c $\endgroup$ – Mike Battaglia Nov 14 '20 at 10:11
  • $\begingroup$ @DanielKatz See my addition. $\endgroup$ – VIVID Nov 14 '20 at 10:28
  • $\begingroup$ so good! I'm delighted :-) $\endgroup$ – Daniel Katz Nov 14 '20 at 11:24

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.