<PRE><B>Question 540467</B>


Looking at the expression {{{m^2+30m-96}}}, we can see that the first coefficient is {{{1}}}, the second coefficient is {{{30}}}, and the last term is {{{-96}}}.



Now multiply the first coefficient {{{1}}} by the last term {{{-96}}} to get {{{(1)(-96)=-96}}}.



Now the question is: what two whole numbers multiply to {{{-96}}} (the previous product) &lt;font size=4&gt;&lt;b&gt;and&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt; add to the second coefficient {{{30}}}?



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 {{{-96}}} (the previous product).



Factors of {{{-96}}}:

1,2,3,4,6,8,12,16,24,32,48,96

-1,-2,-3,-4,-6,-8,-12,-16,-24,-32,-48,-96



Note: list the negative of each factor. This will allow us to find all possible combinations.



These factors pair up and multiply to {{{-96}}}.

1*(-96) = -96
2*(-48) = -96
3*(-32) = -96
4*(-24) = -96
6*(-16) = -96
8*(-12) = -96
(-1)*(96) = -96
(-2)*(48) = -96
(-3)*(32) = -96
(-4)*(24) = -96
(-6)*(16) = -96
(-8)*(12) = -96


Now let&#39;s add up each pair of factors to see if one pair adds to the middle coefficient {{{30}}}:



&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;-96&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;1+(-96)=-95&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;-48&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;2+(-48)=-46&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;-32&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;3+(-32)=-29&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;-24&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;4+(-24)=-20&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;-16&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;6+(-16)=-10&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;8&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&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;8+(-12)=-4&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;96&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-1+96=95&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;48&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-2+48=46&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;32&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-3+32=29&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;24&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-4+24=20&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;16&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-6+16=10&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-8&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&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;-8+12=4&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;



From the table, we can see that there are no pairs of numbers which add to {{{30}}}. So {{{m^2+30m-96}}} cannot be factored.



===============================================================


&lt;a name=&quot;ans&quot;&gt;


Answer:



So {{{m^2+30m-96}}} doesn&#39;t factor at all (over the rational numbers).



So {{{m^2+30m-96}}} is prime.



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Jim
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