How do you factor $xy - 3x - 8y + 24$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2015-04-10T13:43:28

The factors of the first term $x,y$ are $x$ and $y$
So if we can factor $xy-3x-8y+24$
the most likely form will be
$(x+a)(y+b) = xy +bx +ay +ab$

by inspection
$a = -8$
and $b=-3$

so
$xy-3x-8y+24 = (x-8)(x-3)$

How do you factor xy - 3x - 8y + 24xy - 3x - 8y + 24?