Question

Factor the trinomial x^2 - 2x - 8

Answer 1

Well what two numbers multiply to get -8 and add to get -2?
Well, to get -8, we either have (-1,8),(-2,4),(-4,2),(-8,1)
8-1=7
-2+4=2
2-4=-2
1-8=-7
Thus it should be (-4,2),
This means we should get (X-4)(X+2)