Question

How do you multiply `(3a + 1) ( 2a - 7)`?

Answer 1

Use the FOIL method.

Explanation:

FOIL stands for:

Firsts
Outsides
Insides
Lasts

These refer to the position of the terms in the binomials. Let's start solving by multiplying the Firsts. In this case, we would multiply `3a` and `2a` to get `6a^2`.

Next, let's multiply the Outsides, which are the first term of the first binomial and the second term of the second binomial. We would multiply `3a` and `-7` to get `-21a`.

We'll multiply the Insides next. These would be `1` and `2a`, which we would multiply to get `2a`.

Finally, we multiply the Lasts, which are `1` and `-7`, to get `-7`.

We now have to put them all together in one expression. Our expression is `6a^2-21a+2a-7`. We can simplify this equation by adding `2a` to `-21a` to get `-19a`. This gives us our final answer of `6a^2-19a-7`.