Question: factor the polynomial a^4 b + a^2 b^2
The polynomial is:a^4.b + a^2.b^2 -- take out a common factor of a^2 to give
a^2(a^2.b + b^2) -- now we see that we can still take out another common factor, of b. This gives us
a^2.b(a^2 + b) -- this is the final answer - the fully factorised form.