Question 155371
Explain in your own words how to reverse FOIL when factoring a polynomial of the form ax^2 + bx + c when a = 1. Give an example with your explanation.please help, 
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Example:
x^2 + 5x + 6
Think of two numbers whose product is 6 and whose sum is 5
The numbers are 3 and 2
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Rewrite the equation replacing 5x by 3x+2x to get:
x^2 + 3x + 2x + 6
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Factor the 1st two and the last two terms separately to get:
x(x+3)+ 2(x+3)
Factor again to get:
(x+3)(x+2)
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That is an example of "inverse FOIL"; it is also sometimes 
called "the AC Method of factoring".


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Cheers,
Stan H.