Question 43870
To factor, we mean to undo multiplication...that is, we wish to find out what quantities we need to multiply together to arrive at the expression given...so from
a² - a – 35
we set up a pair of binomial factors
( )( )
and then realize that we can only get a^2 from a times a, so plug in and get
(a )(a )
We look at the second sign...if it is negative, we know our factors have different signs...so we have
(a + )(a - )
Now we say, "What are the factors of 35 that have a difference of 1?"
Well there is no such pair in this case (I think the problem was written incorrectly)
If the problem were a² - a – 30, we would have
(a - 6)(a + 5)