Factor each of the following. remember: it is the reverse of the distributive property and your first step is to find the greatest common factor of all terms.

To factor using the reverse of the distributive property, find what common factor the numbers have and what common factor the variables have.

10.

-8x - 16

8 is a factor of both -8 and 16.
The first term has x, but the second term does not, so there is no common variable. The only common factor is 8, or -8.

Factor out a -8:

-8x - 16 = -8(x + 2)

To see if the factorization is correct, multiply the answer using the distributive property. If you get the original expression, then the factorization is correct.

11.

w^2 - 4w

The first term only has a factor of 1. The second term has a 4. There is no common factor between 1 and 4 except for 1, so there is no number you can factor out. The first term has w^2. The second term has w. Both terms have a common factor of w. We can factor out w from both terms.

w^2 - 4w = w(w - 4)

12.

4s + 10rs

4 and 10 have a common factor of 2.
s and rs have a common factor of s.
2 times s is 2s, so the common factor is 2s.
We now factor out 2s

4s + 10rs = 2s(2 + 5r)

31 is prime. and it’s prime factorization is just 31.