It's rootS, not root! A quadratic equation usually has 2 roots, occasionally just 1 and sometines none at all. y = x² - 17x + 30 We factor the right side Write this: y = (x )(x ) Think of two whole numbers whose product is 30 and whose sum (since the last sign is +) is 17 They are 15 and 2 because 15·2 = 30 and 15+2 = 17 So fill in 15 and 2 on the right of each parentheses: y = (x 15)(x 2) Since the sign of 17 is -, both signs are -, so we have y = (x - 15)(x - 2) Set each parenthetical expression equal to zero. x - 15 = 0 and x - 2 = 0 x = 15 and x = 2 are the two roots of the equation x² - 17x + 30 = 0 which are the two x-intercepts of the graph of y = x² - 17x + 30 = 0 Edwin