Question

Factor the expression X^2 + 6x + 8

Answer 1

Answer: (x + 4)(x + 2)

Step-by-step explanation: In this problem, we're given a trinomial with an x² term, an x term, and a constant term so we can factor it as the product of two binomials.

The first term in each binomial will be a factor of x² and since x² factors as x time x, we use x as the first term in each binomial.

To fill the second position in each binomial, we use the factors of the last term that add together to equal the coefficient of the middle term.

So we're looking for factors of +8 that add to +6.

+8 factors as 8 x 1 or 4 x 2. Since 4 and 2 add together to equal +6, we put a +4 in our first binomial and a +2 in our second binomial and we have our answer (x + 4)(x + 2) which is a factored version of x² + 6x + 8.