Question 733357: Factor each polynomial.
p^2+9p+20
I tried to factor it but I didn't know what to do after that. Found 2 solutions by Alan3354, Simnepi:Answer by Alan3354(69443) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Factor each polynomial.
p^2+9p+20
I tried to factor it but I didn't know what to do after that.
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After what?
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Find a pair of factors of 20 with a sum of 9.
There are no negative numbers, makes it easier.
You can put this solution on YOUR website! to solve all quadratic equations by factorising the first thing is to look for factor pairs of the constant term, in this case that is +20.
factors of +20 are: (remember that both of these could be positive or both could be negative, because negative multiplied by negative gives a positive answer)
plus/minus 1 and 20:
plus/minus 2 and 10:
Plus/minus 4 and 5.
Now we look to see if any of those factor pairs can be added to make the coefficient of the p term (that's the number in front of the p) which is +9.
Obviously the factor pair we need are plus 4 and plus 5 because +4 +(+5) = +9
Now we get two brackets and put an p in both and one of the factors in each bracket
Like this
(p+4)(p+5)
There's the answer
