So your equation would be (x)squared + 3(x+2) = 24 simplify: xsq + 3x + 6 = 24 xsq + 3x - 18 = 0 if we broke this down into multiplication, one of the multiplying factors would have to equal zero since the whole now equals 0 so, (x+6)(x-3) = 0 so, x+6 = 0, or x-3 = 0 solve: x = -6, or 3