<PRE><B>Question 565148</B>
I&#39;m assuming you want to factor this.





Looking at the expression {{{8x^2-73x+9}}}, we can see that the first coefficient is {{{8}}}, the second coefficient is {{{-73}}}, and the last term is {{{9}}}.



Now multiply the first coefficient {{{8}}} by the last term {{{9}}} to get {{{(8)(9)=72}}}.



Now the question is: what two whole numbers multiply to {{{72}}} (the previous product) &lt;font size=4&gt;&lt;b&gt;and&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt; add to the second coefficient {{{-73}}}?



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 {{{72}}} (the previous product).



Factors of {{{72}}}:

1,2,3,4,6,8,9,12,18,24,36,72

-1,-2,-3,-4,-6,-8,-9,-12,-18,-24,-36,-72



Note: list the negative of each factor. This will allow us to find all possible combinations.



These factors pair up and multiply to {{{72}}}.

1*72 = 72
2*36 = 72
3*24 = 72
4*18 = 72
6*12 = 72
8*9 = 72
(-1)*(-72) = 72
(-2)*(-36) = 72
(-3)*(-24) = 72
(-4)*(-18) = 72
(-6)*(-12) = 72
(-8)*(-9) = 72


Now let&#39;s add up each pair of factors to see if one pair adds to the middle coefficient {{{-73}}}:



&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;72&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;1+72=73&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;36&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;2+36=38&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;24&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;3+24=27&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;18&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;4+18=22&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;12&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;6+12=18&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;9&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;8+9=17&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=red&gt;-1&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=red&gt;-72&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=red&gt;-1+(-72)=-73&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;-36&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-2+(-36)=-38&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;-24&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-3+(-24)=-27&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;-18&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-4+(-18)=-22&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;-12&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-6+(-12)=-18&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;-9&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td  align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=black&gt;-8+(-9)=-17&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;



From the table, we can see that the two numbers {{{-1}}} and {{{-72}}} add to {{{-73}}} (the middle coefficient).



So the two numbers {{{-1}}} and {{{-72}}} both multiply to {{{72}}} &lt;font size=4&gt;&lt;b&gt;and&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt; add to {{{-73}}}



Now replace the middle term {{{-73x}}} with {{{-x-72x}}}. Remember, {{{-1}}} and {{{-72}}} add to {{{-73}}}. So this shows us that {{{-x-72x=-73x}}}.



{{{8x^2+highlight(-x-72x)+9}}} Replace the second term {{{-73x}}} with {{{-x-72x}}}.



{{{(8x^2-x)+(-72x+9)}}} Group the terms into two pairs.



{{{x(8x-1)+(-72x+9)}}} Factor out the GCF {{{x}}} from the first group.



{{{x(8x-1)-9(8x-1)}}} Factor out {{{9}}} 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.



{{{(x-9)(8x-1)}}} Combine like terms. Or factor out the common term {{{8x-1}}}



===============================================================



Answer:



So {{{8x^2-73x+9}}} factors to {{{(x-9)(8x-1)}}}.



In other words, {{{8x^2-73x+9=(x-9)(8x-1)}}}.



Note: you can check the answer by expanding {{{(x-9)(8x-1)}}} to get {{{8x^2-73x+9}}} or by graphing the original expression and the answer (the two graphs should be identical).

&lt;font color=red&gt;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;/font&gt;

&lt;b&gt;&lt;font size=3&gt;If you need more help, email me at &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:jim_thompson5910@hotmail.com&quot;&gt;jim_thompson5910@hotmail.com&lt;/a&gt;


Also, please consider visiting my website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.freewebs.com/jimthompson5910/home.html&quot;&gt;http://www.freewebs.com/jimthompson5910/home.html&lt;/a&gt; and making a donation. Thank you


Jim&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;

&lt;font color=red&gt;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;/font&gt;
</PRE>