JAMB 1990 · UME · Q2

Quadratics & their graphs

The H.C.F. of $a^2bx + abx^2$ and $a^2b - b^3$ is

Worked solution (try it first)

Factorise the first: $a^2bx + abx^2 = abx(a + x)$ .
Factorise the second: $a^2b - b^3 = b(a^2 - b^2)$
$= b(a - b)(a + b)$ .
The only factor in both is $b$ , so the H.C.F. is $b$ , option A.

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