Question

can you factor x2 (squared)-5x-24

Answer 1

can you factor: x^2 -5x -24

to determine that we can look at the discrimnant of the quadratic equation

Answer 2

b^2 -4ac; if its zero or greater; its doable

Answer 3

25 -4(-24) is going to be greater than zero, so id say yes

Answer 4

ok... but would b2 be -25 or just 25?? or does it matter...??
and after that, so far i understand haha but how would i continue??

Answer 5

first b^2 in amistre's formula means b*b. here b is -5, and -5* -5 = 25

To factor this, you have to do some work:
look at the -24 at the end. Here's the hard part. List all the ways to multiply 2 numbers to get 24:
1, 24
2,12
3,8
4,6

Now see the minus sign in front of the 24? that means take the difference of each pair, and see if you can get -5 (from the 2nd term in your equation)

Answer 6

Thanks so much!