Question

How do you factor the expression `3x^2 - 7x - 6`?

Answer 1

`(x-3)(3x+2)`

Explanation:

We start with `3x^2-7x-6`. In order to factor this, we need to find the numbers that add to -7 and multiply to -18. I found `2` and `-9` to be the only solution for those parameters. Now, we factor by grouping, like this:

`(3x^2+color(white)(..))(color(white)(..)-6)`, which we fill in the blank spaces with the `2` and `-9`.

`(3x^2-9x)(2x-6)`, which we can factor to become `3x(x-3)` and `2(x-3)`. we can simplify these expressions to be only `(3x+2)(x-3)`.