<PRE><B>Question 83585</B>
Factor each of the following trinomial completely please with a step by step explanation so I can understand what you did and how you did it. Thank You
2a^3 - 52a^2b + 96 ab^2
:
Factor out 2a from each term, we then have:
2a(a^2 - 26ab + 48b^2)
:
(a^2 - 26ab + 48b^2) can be factored to (a-24)(a-2) so we have:
:
2a(a - 24b)(a - 2b)
:
Note on factoring:
Since the last term is positive we know that the factors will have the same sign
Since the middle term is negative we know that both will be negative
Find the two factors of 48 that will add up to the middle term (26) 2 + 24 but here it would -2b * -24b
:
Did this help you?</PRE>