Factoring Trinomial Squares

Had 5h^2 + 20h + 20
Took out common factor, got
5(h^2 + 4h + 4)

Teacher says answer is 5(h + 2)^2... how did she get this?

Question

Factoring Trinomial Squares

Had 5h^2 + 20h + 20
Took out common factor, got
5(h^2 + 4h + 4)

Teacher says answer is 5(h + 2)^2... how did she get this?

anonymous · Answer

* took out common factor and divided as well

anonymous · Answer

Factor out a 5

anonymous · Answer

Let's ignore the coefficient 5 for now and focus on the trinomial.
h^2 + 4h + 4

a^2 + b^2 + c
To factor this, we want to find two numbers that multiply to c and add to b, and put them in these brackets:
(h+_ )(h+_ )

2*2=4
2+2=4
so 2 and 2 are our numbers.

(h+2)(h+2)

this can be simplified to (h+2)^2

Bring the coefficient back into the equation:
5(h+2)^2

And you have your answer!

anonymous · Answer

Thank you this has been very helpful, I have a page full of these so I'll try to follow the formula to get them all!