Question

Not good with factoring could use a hand.

Answer 1

The only factoring you need to do is already done for you:

x² + x - 12 = (x + 4) (x - 3)

What you're asked to do is decompose

(3x - 4) / (x² + x - 12)

into partial fractions, i.e. find a and b such that

(3x - 4) / (x² + x - 12) = a / (x + 4) + b / (x - 3)

Multiply both sides by x² + x - 12 :

3x - 4 = a (x - 3) + b (x + 4)

3x - 4 = (a + b) x + (-3a + 4b)

So we have

a + b = 3

-3a + 4b = -4

and solving this system gives

a = 16/7 and b = 5/7

so you should submit the numbers in bold:

(3x - 4) / (x² + x - 12) = 16 / (7 (x + 4)) + 5 / (7 (x - 3))