What is the factored form of
X^2 + 6x + 8
There are 4 possible answers to where two of the answers both added up to six, so how would I know which set of numbers to choose
Example:
(X+4)(x+2) and (x+3)(x+3)
This really confuses me, can both answers be right?
The correct factored form of x^2 + 6x + 8 is (x + 4)(x + 2). When factoring a trinomial like this, the goal is to find two numbers that multiply to the constant term (8 in this case) and add up to the coefficient of the middle term (6 in this case).
In this example, we can find that 4 and 2 are the correct numbers because:
4 * 2 = 8
4 + 2 = 6
So, the correct factored form is (x + 4)(x + 2). The other set of numbers you mentioned, (x + 3)(x + 3), does not meet the criteria of adding up to 6, so it is not a valid factored form for x^2 + 6x + 8.
In general, for a quadratic expression in the form ax^2 + bx + c, there should be only one correct factored form that meets the criteria of multiplying to c and adding up to b.