Put the x terms together and the y terms together and subtract the constant term from both sides: Factor the 4 out of the first three terms and factor 2 out of the last three terms on the left, skipping a space at the end of each parentheses: Complete the square in the first parentheses: To the side or in your head, 1. Multiply the coefficient of x, which is 8, by 1/2, getting 4 2. Square 4, getting 16. 3. Add inside the first parentheses 4. Add 4 times 16 or +64 to the right side, since the first parentheses is multiplied by 4. Complete the square in the second parentheses: To the side or in your head, 1. Multiply the coefficient of y, which is 2, by 1/2, getting 1 2. Square 1, getting 1. 3. Add 1 inside the second parentheses 4. Add 2 times 1 or +2 to the right side, since the second parentheses is multiplied by 2. Factor the trinomials inside the parentheses, combine the numbers on the right: Write the two equal factors as squares of binomials: Get 1 on the right side by dividing every term by 64 Divide each numerator and denominator on the left by the coefficient of the squared binomial in the numerator: Edwin