| Distributive Property | states that the product of a number and a sum equals the sum of the individual products of the number and the addends: for all real numbers a, b, and c, a(b + c) = ab + ac |
| factor | for any number x, the numbers that can be evenly divided into x are called factors of x. For example, the number 20 has the factors 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, and 20. |
| factored form of a polynomial | a polynomial written as a product of factors, and each non-monomial factor has no common factors in its terms |
| factoring | the process of breaking a number down into its multiplicative factors. Every number x has at least the numbers 1 and x as factors. |
| greatest common factor (GCF) | the largest factor that two numbers have in common |
| monomial | a number, a variable, or a product of a number and one or more variables with whole number exponents, such as -5, x, and 8xy3 |
| polynomial | a monomial or sum of monomials, like 4x2 + 3x – 10 |
| prime factor | a factor that has no factors but 1 and itself. For example, 2 is a prime factor of 12 because its only factors are 1 and 2, while 6 is not a prime factor of 12 because it has more factors than 1 and 6 (i.e. 2 and 3). |
| prime factorization | the process of breaking a number down into its prime factors |