Question:
An irreducible factor of 24x2y2 is
(a) x2
(b) y2
(c) x
(d) 24x
Solution:
(c) x
An irreducible factor is a factor which cannot be expressed further as a product of factors. Such a factorisation is called an irreducible factorisation.
24x2y2 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × x × x × y × y
Therefore an irreducible factor is x.