Expert: Richard J. Raridon - 1/1/2007

Question
explain how you got these answers especially the second one
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
x to the second - 2x-24 ? i have problems factoring expressions. 3c to the second power - 17c - 6
-----Answer-----
x^2 -2x -24 = (x-6)(x+4)
3c^2 -17c -6 = (3c+1)(c-6)

Answer
Well, you can look at it and see that the factors have to
b (x+a) and (x+b) where ab = -24.  So a and b have to be
1 and 24, 2 and 12, 3 and 8, or 4 and 6, with one of them negative.  The difference between a and b = 2 so they have to be 4 and 6.  
For the second one the factors have to be  (3c+a) and (c+b) where ab = -6
so a and b have to be 1 and 6 or 2 and 3, with one of them negative.  Not too hard to figure out which pair you need.