Factoring Trinomials with the first term other than 1

For example:

2X² + X -6

Step One

Multiply the first and the last term, in this case 2 and 6

2(6) = 12


Step Two


Find the factors of 12 give you 1X when added.

Factors of 12= (6,2),(12,1),(4,3)


You can see that (4,3) works perfectly because (4-3=1) , in this case

4X - 3X = X


Step Three


Arrange your factors so they have something in common, for example:

2X² +4X since I can factor the 2X

and -3X-6 since I can factor the 3


2X²+4X-3X -6

Now factor the first two terms


2X²+4X-3X -6


2X(X+2)-3(X+2)

(2X-3)(X+2)


Final answer: (2X-3)(X+2)