How do you factor: #2x^3 + 7x^2 - 3x -18#?

1 Answer
Shantelle
Apr 5, 2018

#x^2(2x+7) - 3(x+6)#

Here's how I did it:

Explanation:

#2x^3 + 7x^2 - 3x - 18#

We will factor this by grouping:
#(2x^3 + 7x^2) + (-3x - 18)#

To factor, we have to see what everything has in common. For #2x^3 + 7x^2#, both expressions have #x^2# in them, so we can take #x^2# out:
#x^2(2x + 7)#

For #-(3x+18)#, they both have #-3# in common, so we take that out:
#-3(x+6)#

Now we combine these two expressions:
#x^2(2x+7) - 3(x+6)#

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