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FactorTerms[poly]

pulls out any overall numerical factor in poly.

FactorTerms[poly,x]

pulls out any overall factor in poly that does not depend on x.

FactorTerms[poly,{x1,x2,…}]

pulls out any overall factor in poly that does not depend on any of the xi.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Basic Uses  
Advanced Uses  
Options  
Modulus  
Trig  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
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FactorTerms

FactorTerms[poly]

pulls out any overall numerical factor in poly.

FactorTerms[poly,x]

pulls out any overall factor in poly that does not depend on x.

FactorTerms[poly,{x1,x2,…}]

pulls out any overall factor in poly that does not depend on any of the xi.

Details and Options

  • FactorTerms[poly,x] extracts the content of poly with respect to x.
  • FactorTerms automatically threads over lists in poly, as well as equations, inequalities and logic functions.
  • FactorTerms takes the following options:
  • Modulus 0modulus to assume for integers
    Trig Falsewhether to do trigonometric as well as algebraic transformations

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (2)

Pull out an overall numerical factor, but do no further factoring:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[3 + 6x + 3x ^ 2]

Pull out factors that do not depend on :

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[3 + 3a + 6a x + 6x + 12a x ^ 2 + 12x ^ 2, x]

Scope  (10)

Basic Uses  (7)

A univariate polynomial:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[4x ^ 3 - 6x ^ 2 + 12x - 6]

A multivariate polynomial:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[12a ^ 4 + 9x ^ 2 + 66b ^ 2]

A rational function:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[7 x + (14y + 21) / z]

A polynomial with complex coefficients:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[5I x ^ 2 + 20x I + 10]

A non-polynomial expression:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[15Sin[x] ^ 2 + 100Log[x]f[x] + 50E ^ x]

FactorTerms threads over lists:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[{5x ^ 2 - 15, 7x ^ 4 - 77, 8x ^ 8 - 24}]

FactorTerms threads over equations and inequalities:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[1 < 77x ^ 3 - 21x + 35 < 2]

Advanced Uses  (3)

Pull out factors that do not depend on :

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[-6y - 6a y + 2x ^ 2y + 2a x ^ 2y + 4a y ^ 2 + 4a ^ 2y ^ 2, x]

Pull out factors that do not depend on and and then factors that do not depend on :

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[-6y - 6a y + 2x ^ 2y + 2a x ^ 2y + 4a y ^ 2 + 4a ^ 2y ^ 2, {x, y}]

Pull out the overall numeric factor of a polynomial over the integers modulo 3:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[5x ^ 2 + 2, Modulus -> 3]

Options  (2)

Modulus  (1)

Pull out overall numerical factor over integers modulo 7:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[3x + 10, Modulus -> 7]

Trig  (1)

Pull out overall numerical factor after applying trigonometric transformations:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[4Sin[x]Cos[x] + 4Cos[x] ^ 2 - 4Sin[x] ^ 2, Trig -> True]

Applications  (1)

Define a large polynomial:

Wolfram Language code: f = 2 x ^ 2 y z + 2 x ^ 2 y + 4 x ^ 2z + 4 x ^ 2 + 4 y ^ 2z ^ 2 + 4 z y ^ 2 + 8 z ^ 2 y + 2 z y - 6 y - 12 z - 12;

Pull out an overall numerical factor:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[f]

Pull out factors that do not depend on x:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[f, x]

Pull out factors that do not depend on x and y and then factors that do not depend on x:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[f, {x, y}]

Properties & Relations  (3)

Expand distributes the common factor over the terms, effectively reverting FactorTerms:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[14x + 21y + 35x y + 63]
Wolfram Language code: Expand[%]

FactorTermsList gives a list of factors:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTermsList[14x + 21y + 35x y + 63]

Factor performs a complete factorization:

Wolfram Language code: FactorTerms[4x ^ 3 - 4]
Wolfram Language code: Factor[%]
Wolfram Research (1988), FactorTerms, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FactorTerms.html (updated 2007).

Text

Wolfram Research (1988), FactorTerms, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FactorTerms.html (updated 2007).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1988. "FactorTerms." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2007. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FactorTerms.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1988). FactorTerms. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FactorTerms.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_factorterms, author="Wolfram Research", title="{FactorTerms}", year="2007", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FactorTerms.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_factorterms, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={FactorTerms}, year={2007}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FactorTerms.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}