How do you factor x2 2x 12?

Answer 1

Usually, you would find two numbers that multiply to 12 (c) and add to make 2 (b).

However, there are not any nice numbers that work, so you must use the quadratic formula.

x = -b ±√b2 - 4ac

___________

2a

where a = 1 b = 2 and c = 12 if the expression is x2 + 2x + 12

The square root in the equation is over b2 - 4ac.

Solve for x, and then put in factored form : (x - root1)(x - root2)