How do you factorise a quadratic equation that starts without a number?

Answer 1

The question is not phrased clearly enough to answer exactly; what does "starts with a number" mean?

• If you mean not starting with a constant number at the beginning, this is common, as most functions are written in order of the highest power of the variable first; you will first need to rearrange the expression to a suitable order.
• If you mean that the x2 or x terms do not have coefficients (numbers written next to them as ab, meaning "a multiplied by b") then these are easier to factorise; a lack of coefficient simply means "multiplied by one". Further questions can explain how to factorise further.