How do you factor the expression #x^2 – 11x + 24#?

1 Answer
Mar 7, 2016

#(x - 3)(x - 8)#

Explanation:

In factoring, we know that:

#(x + a)(x + b) = x^2 + (a+b)x + (a*b)#
such that #a# and #b# be any value.

Since the sign of 24 is positive, we know that #a# and #b# are either both positive or both negative. In this case, since we know that the sign of #11x# is negative, we can deduce that both #a# and #b# are both negative.

In order to find out what #a# and #b# are...

#a + b = -11#
#a*b = 24#

So now we know that our factors are #-3# and #-8#.
#(x - 3)(x - 8)#