Question

How do you factor 20x^2 - 66x +54 ?

Answer 1

There is a way to factor with a leading coefficient larger than 1, but first, it would be easier to factor out a number to make the next steps easier.
2(10x²-33x+27) ← Factor out a 2, then just temporarily drop it to make things less messy

So now we have 10x²-33x+27. The first step when factoring with a leading coefficient is to multiply the leading coefficient (10) and the constant (27) = 270. Then, we find the factors of 270 and see what would add to give -33.
The factors are -15 and -18

Then, we get (10x²-15x)+(-18x+27)
Factor out a 5x from the first, and -9 from the second
5x(2x-3)-9(2x-3)
That would give us (5x-9)(2x-3) but don't forget the 2 from above! Therefore, the final answer is:
2(5x-9)(2x-3)