Renee is asked to find a factor of x3−5x2+6x , given that x is one of the linear factors. Which of the following is another correct factor?(1 point) Responses x+2 x plus 2 x+3 x plus 3 x2+5x+6 x squared plus 5 x plus 6 x−2

1 answer

To find a factor of the polynomial \( x^3 - 5x^2 + 6x \), we can start by factoring out the greatest common factor (GCF) from the expression.

The polynomial can be rewritten as:

\[ x(x^2 - 5x + 6) \]

Next, we can factor the quadratic expression \( x^2 - 5x + 6 \). We look for two numbers that multiply to \( 6 \) (the constant term) and add to \( -5 \) (the coefficient of \( x \)). The numbers \( -2 \) and \( -3 \) satisfy these conditions:

\[ x^2 - 5x + 6 = (x - 2)(x - 3) \]

Now we can express the original polynomial as:

\[ x(x - 2)(x - 3) \]

The linear factors of the polynomial are \( x \), \( x - 2 \), and \( x - 3 \).

The response options given are \( x + 2 \), \( x + 3 \), \( x^2 + 5x + 6 \), and \( x - 2 \).

Among these, \( x - 2 \) is a correct factor of the original polynomial \( x^3 - 5x^2 + 6x \).

Thus, another correct factor is:

\( x - 2 \)