Question

How do you factor the trinomial `-5x^3+15x^2+20x`?

Answer 1

`-5x(x-4)(x+1)`

Explanation:

first look for something that all the terms have in common and factor out ----------- every term can factor out `-5x`

after you factor `-5x` you have ----------- `-5x(x^2-3x-4)`

to factor the binomial you think of factors of -4 such that the sum would be `-3`. --------- `(1)(-4)=-4` and `1-4=-3`

therefore the overall answer is `-5x(x-4)(x+1)`