How do you factor the trinomial #x^2 - 5x - 14#?

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Answer 1 · 2016-02-17T12:21:39

#(x-7)(x+2)#

Notice that

2 x 7 =14
7-2=5 so 2-7 =-5
'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So lets try

#(x-7)(x+2) -> x^2-5x-14#

So the factors are:#" " x= +7 and x= -2#

If#" " x=+7 " then "(x-7)=0# satisfying the condition

If #" "x=-2 " then "(x+2)=0# satisfying the condition