{"id":227649,"date":"2025-06-06T10:21:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T10:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=227649"},"modified":"2025-06-06T10:21:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T10:21:54","slug":"factor-6-out-of-18z-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/06\/factor-6-out-of-18z-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Factor -6 out of 18z &#8211; 15."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Factor -6 out of 18z &#8211; 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Factoring \u20136 out of the Expression:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given expression:<br><strong>18z \u2013 15<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are asked to factor <strong>\u20136<\/strong> out of this expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step-by-step Factoring:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We factor \u20136 out of both terms:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+156)18z &#8211; 15 = -6(-3z + \\frac{15}{6})18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+615\u200b)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But we can simplify further. First, divide each term by \u20136:18z\u22126=\u22123zand\u221215\u22126=2.5\\frac{18z}{-6} = -3z \\quad \\text{and} \\quad \\frac{-15}{-6} = 2.5\u2212618z\u200b=\u22123zand\u22126\u221215\u200b=2.5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the result includes a decimal (2.5), which indicates we didn\u2019t get a fully factored expression with integers. Let\u2019s take another approach and look for <strong>how to factor \u20136 properly<\/strong> so the remaining expression contains whole numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Better approach:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of directly factoring \u20136, let\u2019s express the original expression as a product of \u20136 and another expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We can write:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+2.5)18z &#8211; 15 = -6(-3z + 2.5)18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+2.5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But as shown, this results in a non-integer expression. To avoid decimals, let&#8217;s convert 2.5 to a fraction:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+52)18z &#8211; 15 = -6\\left(-3z + \\frac{5}{2}\\right)18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+25\u200b)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, this is the correct factored form when factoring <strong>\u20136<\/strong>:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+52)\\boxed{18z &#8211; 15 = -6\\left(-3z + \\frac{5}{2}\\right)}18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+25\u200b)\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, many prefer factored forms with <strong>integer coefficients<\/strong>. So instead, if we factor out the <strong>greatest common factor<\/strong> (GCF) instead of specifically \u20136, we get:18z\u221215=3(6z\u22125)18z &#8211; 15 = 3(6z &#8211; 5)18z\u221215=3(6z\u22125)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But since the question specifically asks to factor <strong>\u20136<\/strong>, we must accept fractional or decimal coefficients in the factored expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Factoring is the process of rewriting an expression as a product of its factors. In this case, we are given the linear expression <strong>18z \u2013 15<\/strong>, and we are asked to factor <strong>\u20136<\/strong> out of it. Factoring out a number means expressing the entire expression as that number multiplied by another simplified expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We begin by dividing each term in the original expression by \u20136. Dividing 18z by \u20136 gives \u20133z. Dividing \u201315 by \u20136 gives 2.5. Therefore, the expression becomes:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+2.5)18z &#8211; 15 = -6(-3z + 2.5)18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+2.5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is mathematically correct but includes a decimal, which is often less preferred in algebra. Alternatively, we can write 2.5 as the fraction 5\/2:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+52)18z &#8211; 15 = -6\\left(-3z + \\frac{5}{2}\\right)18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+25\u200b)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This shows that factoring \u20136 from the expression results in another expression containing a fraction. It is important to note that factoring a <strong>negative number<\/strong> can cause signs to change inside the parentheses. For example, 18z (positive) divided by \u20136 becomes \u20133z. Similarly, \u201315 divided by \u20136 becomes +2.5 because dividing two negative numbers yields a positive result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In summary, factoring \u20136 out of <strong>18z \u2013 15<\/strong> results in:\u22126(\u22123z+52)\\boxed{-6\\left(-3z + \\frac{5}{2}\\right)}\u22126(\u22123z+25\u200b)\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is correct and valid, though not the most simplified in terms of integer coefficients. However, because the question specifies factoring out \u20136, we must use it even if it introduces fractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner9-118.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-227650\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Factor -6 out of 18z &#8211; 15. The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Factoring \u20136 out of the Expression: Given expression:18z \u2013 15 We are asked to factor \u20136 out of this expression. Step-by-step Factoring: We factor \u20136 out of both terms:18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+156)18z &#8211; 15 = -6(-3z + \\frac{15}{6})18z\u221215=\u22126(\u22123z+615\u200b) But we can simplify further. First, divide [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}