Study Guide: Factoring Trinomials

These web-based activities were developed, during summer sessions from 1997 through 1999, by students at Mainland High School, located in Daytona Beach, FL. As part of Mainland's CCTT grant, the students were given permission by the book's publisher to convert the ancillary materials of the County's adopted Algebra 1 Textbook into html format.

Study Guide:
Factoring Trinomials

To factor a trinomial of the form ax² + bx + c follow Example 1 below.

To factor a trinomial of the form ax² + bx + c where a = 1, you need to find only the factors of c whose sum is b.

The same pattern can be used to factor a trinomial ax² + bx + c when a = 1 and c is negative. When this occurs, the factor of the trinomial are a difference and a sum.

Directions: Complete each expression.

− 5

− 8y

+ n)(7 −

2x)(a² +

Directions: Factor each trinomial. if possible. If the trinomial cannot be factored using integers, write prime.

(y + 4)(y + 8)

(x − 3)(x + 2)

(x − 7)(x + 3)

(y + 11)(y + 11)

prime

(a − 8)(a − 8)

3x − 4)(x + 2)

(3h − 5)(6h + 1)

(2x + 5)(14x − 5)

(6x + 5)(8x − 3)

(4y − 7)(3 − y)

prime