How do you solve by factoring #6x^2 - x - 3= 0#?

1 Answer
Noah G
Mar 30, 2016

To factor a trinomial of the form #y = ax^2 + bx + c, a != 1#, you must find two numbers so that they multiply to #a xx c# and they add to b.

Explanation:

Going through the factors of 18:# (-1, 18); (18, -1); (6,-3); (-3, 6); (-9,2); (-2, 9)#, we see that none of those pairs add to -1.

Thus, we can say that this quadratic equation is non factorable; it can only be solved by the quadratic formula or completing the square.

Hopefully this helps.

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