Question

How do you factor the expression `s^2 +12s +20`?

Answer 1

`(s+10)(s+2)`

Explanation:

Let's do a little thought experiment:

What two numbers sum up to the middle term, and have a product of the last term?

After some trial and error, we arrive at `10` and `2`. Because of this, we can factor our quadratic as

`(s+10)(s+2)`

Hope this helps!