Is it possible to factor $y = 9 x^{2} - 17 x - 85$ $y=9x^2 - 17x - 85$ ? If so, what are the factors?

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Answer 1 · 2017-06-11T12:43:02

To check if it is possible to factorize a square trinomial you have to calculate the determinant:

$Delta = b^2-4ac$

Here we have:

$Delta=17^2-4*9*85=289-3060==-2771$

The discriminant is negative, so the trinomial has no roots (i.e. it cannot be factorized)