Question

Factor 3x2 + 7x + 2.
A) (x - 1)(3x - 2)
B) (3x + 1)(x + 2)
C) (3x + 2)(x + 1)
D) (3x + 1)(x + 1)

Answer 1

here are all the steps
from the general format ax^2 + bx + c = 0 identify your a,b, c
find the product ac
what are the factors of (ac) that add up to b pay attention to the signs
rewrite the original and split b into it's addends
you have 4 terms split into 2 sets of 2 terms and factor each group
use the distributive property and factor the common term in both groups

Answer 2

alternate using the principle of FOIL the F is the product of the first term and L is the product of the last
here F = 3x^2 factors as 3x and x
here L = 2 factors as 2 and 1
everything is positive sum OI is 7