Solve a Polynomial by Factoring - Pre-Calculus

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Question

Solve the following polynomial for by factoring:

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Answer

The polynomial in the problem is given as follows:

Factoring this polynomial, we would get an expression of the form:

So we need to determine what a and b are. We know we need two factors that when multiplied equal -12, and when added equal -1. If we consider 2 and 6, we could get -12 but could not arrange them in any way that would make their sum equal to -1. We then look at 3 and 4, whose product can be -12 is one of them is negative, and whose sum can be -1 if -4 is added to 3. This tells us that the 4 must be the negative factor and the 3 must be the positive factor, so we get the following:

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