Question

A question on a quiz asked students to factor the expression 32m - 24. Ryan and Jane's answers are given below. Explain who is correct and why.

Ryan: 4(8m - 6)
Jane: 8(4m - 3)

1. Ryan is correct because he factored out the greatest common factor.
2. Jane is correct because her answer simplifies the expression further.
3. Both are correct because they used different factoring methods.
4. Neither is correct because they both made mistakes in their answers.

Answer 1

Ryan is correct because he factored out the greatest common factor, while Jane's answer does not properly simplify the expression.

Step-by-step explanation:

Ryan is correct because he factored out the greatest common factor. By factoring out the greatest common factor, Ryan transformed the expression 32m - 24 into 4(8m - 6). This is valid because both 32 and 24 are divisible by 8.

Jane's answer, 8(4m - 3), is not a correct factorization. It does not properly simplify the expression and does not factor out the greatest common factor.

Therefore, option 1 is correct, and Ryan is the only one who correctly factored the expression.