Factor.
3a^2 - 10a + 8
Thank you! :-)
One factor will have 3a while the other will have a. The third term can be obtained by either the product of 8 and 1 or 4 and 2. To get a negative middle term (-10) with a positive end term, both have to be negative.
I cannot find factors for the above formula.
However, if it were 3a^2 - 10a - 8, it would factor into (3a + 2)(a - 4).
Do you have a typo?
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
3a^2-10a-8
To factor the expression 3a^2 - 10a + 8, we will look for two binomials that, when multiplied together, give us the original expression.
First, we need to decompose the middle term (-10a) into two terms that, when combined, give us -10a.
To achieve this, we find two numbers that multiply to give us the product of the square coefficient (3) and the constant term (8), which is 24 in this case. These two numbers must also have a sum of the coefficient of the middle term (-10). The numbers that satisfy these conditions are -4 and -6.
Thus, we can rewrite the expression as:
3a^2 - 4a - 6a + 8
Now we can group the terms and factor by grouping:
(3a^2 - 4a) + (-6a + 8)
Taking out the common factors from each binomial:
a(3a - 4) - 2(3a - 4)
Notice how a common binomial (3a - 4) is present in both terms.
Combining the remaining terms, we have:
(3a - 4)(a - 2)
Therefore, the factored form of the expression 3a^2 - 10a + 8 is (3a - 4)(a - 2).