Hi,

I will do a similar problem.

Factor 7a² b - 14 a² b⁴

The first thing you should look for when factoring is any expressions that are common to all the terms. In this problem there are 2 terms

7a² b

and

14 a² b⁴

There is an a² in both terms, there is also a b in both terms and since 14 = 2 7 there is a 7 common to both terms. Thus you have a common factor of

7 a² b

and hence

7a² b - 14 a² b⁴ = 7 a² b (1 - 2 b³ )

Penny