You can
put this solution on YOUR website!First, let's factor
Looking at the expression
, we can see that the first coefficient is
, the second coefficient is
, and the last term is
.
Now multiply the first coefficient
by the last term
to get
.
Now the question is: what two whole numbers multiply to
(the previous product)
and add to the second coefficient
?
To find these two numbers, we need to list
all of the factors of
(the previous product).
Factors of
:
1,2,3,4,6,12
-1,-2,-3,-4,-6,-12
Note: list the negative of each factor. This will allow us to find all possible combinations.
These factors pair up and multiply to
.
1*12
2*6
3*4
(-1)*(-12)
(-2)*(-6)
(-3)*(-4)
Now let's add up each pair of factors to see if one pair adds to the middle coefficient
:
| First Number | Second Number | Sum | | 1 | 12 | 1+12=13 |
| 2 | 6 | 2+6=8 |
| 3 | 4 | 3+4=7 |
| -1 | -12 | -1+(-12)=-13 |
| -2 | -6 | -2+(-6)=-8 |
| -3 | -4 | -3+(-4)=-7 |
From the table, we can see that there are no pairs of numbers which add to
. So
cannot be factored.
Are you sure that the book asked you to factor
? I would double check the problem.
