Factoring 3x² + 12x: Finding the Common Factor Step-by-Step

Question

We factored the expression 3x2+12x 3x^2 + 12x into its basic terms:

3xx+12x 3 \cdot x \cdot x + 12 \cdot x

Take out the common factor from the factored expression

Step-by-Step Solution

To factor the expression 3x2+12x 3x^2 + 12x , we start by looking for the greatest common factor (GCF) of the terms 3x2 3x^2 and 12x 12x . The GCF is 3x 3x . We can factor out 3x 3x from each term:

3x2+12x=3xx+34x 3x^2+12x=\blue3\cdot \orange x\cdot x+\blue 3\cdot4\cdot \orange x .

This allows us to write the expression as 3x(x+4) 3x(x + 4) .

Answer

3x(x+4) 3x \left(x + 4 \right)