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MA10-05 Maths Coming soon

Factorising a Quadratic x^2+bx+c, Including Difference of Two Squares

MA10-05

This lesson is coming soon.

In this lesson

Factorise a quadratic expression x^2+bx+c using factor pairs, and recognise and factorise a difference of two squares as a separate pattern.

What it covers

  • Factorising x^2+bx+c via factor pairs of c that sum to b, including negative b and/or c cases
  • Recognising an expression as a difference of two squares (a^2 - b^2, no middle term) and factorising it directly to (a-b)(a+b)

Key words

For: AQA GCSE 8300, Edexcel GCSE 1MA1, Eduqas GCSE C300, Edexcel IGCSE 4MA1, OCR GCSE J560, Cambridge IGCSE 0580

On the specification

BoardSpecStatement
AQA GCSE 8300A4Notation, vocabulary and manipulation
Edexcel GCSE 1MA1A4Notation, vocabulary and manipulation
Eduqas GCSE C300FA4Simplify and manipulate algebraic expressions (including those involving surds) by: collecting like terms; multiplying a single term over a bracket; taking out common factors; expanding products of two binomials; factorising quadratic expressions of the form x² + bx + c, including the difference of two squares; simplifying expressions involving sums, products and powers, including the laws of indices
Eduqas GCSE C300HA4Simplify and manipulate algebraic expressions (including those involving surds and algebraic fractions) by: collecting like terms; multiplying a single term over a bracket; taking out common factors; expanding products of two or more binomials; factorising quadratic expressions of the form x² + bx + c, including the difference of two squares; factorising quadratic expressions of the form ax² + bx + c; completing the square; simplifying expressions involving sums, products and powers, including the laws of indices
Edexcel IGCSE 4MA1F2.2FUnderstand the concept of a quadratic expression and be able to factorise such expressions (limited to x² + bx + c)
OCR GCSE J5606.01eTake out common factors.
Cambridge IGCSE 0580E2.2Simplify expressions by collecting like terms.
For teachers

This GCSE Maths lesson teaches factorising a quadratic x²+bx+c, including difference of two squares. By the end, students should be able to factorise a quadratic expression x^2+bx+c using factor pairs, and recognise and factorise a difference of two squares as a separate pattern. It works through two worked examples and the mistakes examiners report.