Question

Explain in easy terms, how the signs of the last terms of the two binomial factors of a trinomial are determined?

Answer 1

Explanation:

It helps to understand the process of multiplying the binomials. Consider the simple case ...

  (x +a)(x +b)

The product is ...

  (x +a)(x +b) = x² +(a+b)x + ab

If the constant term (ab) is negative, the signs of (a) and (b) are different.

If the constant term (ab) is positive, the signs of (a) and (b) will both match the sign of the coefficient of the linear term (a+b).

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Of course, the sum (a+b) will have the sign of the (a) or (b) value with the largest magnitude, so when the signs of (a) and (b) are different, the factor with the largest magnitude will have the sign of (a+b), the x-coefficient.

Example:

  x² -x -6

 -6 tells you the factors will have different signs. -x tells you the one with the largest magnitude will be negative.

  -6 = -6×1 = -3×2 = ... (other factor pairs have a negative factor with a smaller magnitude)

 The sums of these factor pairs are -5 and -1. We want the factor pair that has a sum of -1, the coefficient of x in the trinomial.

  x² -x -6 = (x -3)(x +2)