Question 209265: how is this algebra factoring problem done
b^2 + 6b - 16
Answer by RAY100(1637)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! b^2 +6b -16
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the sign of last term is negative,,,,,this tells us that the middle term is formed by the difference of two factors.
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The sign of the middle term is positive,,,,which tells us that the largest of the terms is positive,,,(in difference calc)
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factors of (1) b^2 are just 1*1
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factors of (-16),,could be,,,16*1,,,or 8*2,,or 4*4,,,,,,
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Since we are looking for a difference of 6,,,let's try 8-2=6
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(b +8) (b-2)
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check using FOIL,,,b^2 -2b +8b -16 = b^2 +6b -16,,,ok
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