Question

How do you factor the trinomial `x^2 - 7x - 8`?

Answer 1

`(x+1)(x-8)`

Explanation:

In order to factor the trinomial #x^2-7x-8 we need to first list the factors of 8.

1 and 8
2 and 4

Looking at the trinomial we know that the second sign is negative which means the signs of the binomial factors will be different and we will be subtracting the factors.

This tells us that the factors that will subtract to give us the middle term are 8 and 1 to get 7.

Now we can begin forming the binomial factors using the factors
`(x)(x) = x^2`
`(1)(8) = 8`
and
`(1-8) = -7`
Therefore are final factors are
`(x+1)(x-8)`