How may I explain these Algebra problems in lame terms?

[LearnFromHome]

We have been doing great with factoring squares but now we hit a wall with the sum of two cubes. How can I make this transition easier for me and my son?

Here are two examples....

32c^3 - 32



-81x^7 + 3xy^3

Thanks a mill!
Judy

[Ailaena]

Remember, the first thing to do when factoring, is make sure you factor out anything that the terms have in common.

So 32c^3 - 32 becomes
32(c^3-1) - now you can use your handy difference of two cubes formula
32(c-1)(c^2+c+1)

-81x^7 + 3xy^3 becomes
-3x(27x^6-y^3)
-3x(3x^2-y)(9x^4+3x^2y+y^2)


HTH (hope that was right!)

[Jann in TX]

I made a list of 'cubes' for my dd to have handy for reference--by the end of the chapter she had memorized many of them...

Actually--I think I put both the square and the cube on the card and used the numbers 1-25.

1 1 1
2 4 8
3 9 27
...

This helped her see what she needed to factor out in order to use the 'formulas'.

[LearnFromHome]

Thank you very much!
Judy