<PRE><B>Question 530088</B>


Looking at the expression {{{12a^2+8a-15}}}, we can see that the first coefficient is {{{12}}}, the second coefficient is {{{8}}}, and the last term is {{{-15}}}.



Now multiply the first coefficient {{{12}}} by the last term {{{-15}}} to get {{{(12)(-15)=-180}}}.



Now the question is: what two whole numbers multiply to {{{-180}}} (the previous product) &lt;font size=4&gt;&lt;b&gt;and&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt; add to the second coefficient {{{8}}}?



To find these two numbers, we need to list &lt;font size=4&gt;&lt;b&gt;all&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt; of the factors of {{{-180}}} (the previous product).



Factors of {{{-180}}}:

1,2,3,4,5,6,9,10,12,15,18,20,30,36,45,60,90,180

-1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-6,-9,-10,-12,-15,-18,-20,-30,-36,-45,-60,-90,-180



Note: list the negative of each factor. This will allow us to find all possible combinations.



These factors pair up and multiply to {{{-180}}}.

1*(-180) = -180
2*(-90) = -180
3*(-60) = -180
4*(-45) = -180
5*(-36) = -180
6*(-30) = -180
9*(-20) = -180
10*(-18) = -180
12*(-15) = -180
(-1)*(180) = -180
(-2)*(90) = -180
(-3)*(60) = -180
(-4)*(45) = -180
(-5)*(36) = -180
(-6)*(30) = -180
(-9)*(20) = -180
(-10)*(18) = -180
(-12)*(15) = -180


Now let&#39;s add up each pair of factors to see if one pair adds to the middle coefficient {{{8}}}:



&lt;table border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;th&gt;First Number&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Second Number&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Sum&lt;/th&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;1&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-180&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;1+(-180)=-179&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;2&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-90&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;2+(-90)=-88&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;3&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-60&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;3+(-60)=-57&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;4&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-45&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;4+(-45)=-41&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;5&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-36&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;5+(-36)=-31&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;6&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-30&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;6+(-30)=-24&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;9&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-20&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;9+(-20)=-11&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;10&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-18&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;10+(-18)=-8&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;12&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-15&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;12+(-15)=-3&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-1&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;180&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-1+180=179&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-2&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;90&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-2+90=88&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-3&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;60&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-3+60=57&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-4&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;45&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-4+45=41&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-5&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;36&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-5+36=31&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-6&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;30&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-6+30=24&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-9&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;20&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-9+20=11&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=red&gt;-10&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=red&gt;18&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=red&gt;-10+18=8&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-12&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;15&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-12+15=3&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;



From the table, we can see that the two numbers {{{-10}}} and {{{18}}} add to {{{8}}} (the middle coefficient).



So the two numbers {{{-10}}} and {{{18}}} both multiply to {{{-180}}} &lt;font size=4&gt;&lt;b&gt;and&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt; add to {{{8}}}



Now replace the middle term {{{8a}}} with {{{-10a+18a}}}. Remember, {{{-10}}} and {{{18}}} add to {{{8}}}. So this shows us that {{{-10a+18a=8a}}}.



{{{12a^2+highlight(-10a+18a)-15}}} Replace the second term {{{8a}}} with {{{-10a+18a}}}.



{{{(12a^2-10a)+(18a-15)}}} Group the terms into two pairs.



{{{2a(6a-5)+(18a-15)}}} Factor out the GCF {{{2a}}} from the first group.



{{{2a(6a-5)+3(6a-5)}}} Factor out {{{3}}} from the second group. The goal of this step is to make the terms in the second parenthesis equal to the terms in the first parenthesis.



{{{(2a+3)(6a-5)}}} Combine like terms. Or factor out the common term {{{6a-5}}}



===============================================================



Answer:



So {{{12a^2+8a-15}}} factors to {{{(2a+3)(6a-5)}}}.



In other words, {{{12a^2+8a-15=(2a+3)(6a-5)}}}.



Note: you can check the answer by expanding {{{(2a+3)(6a-5)}}} to get {{{12a^2+8a-15}}} or by graphing the original expression and the answer (the two graphs should be identical).



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Jim
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