Answer :

To factor a expression of the form:

[tex]x^2+Bx+C[/tex]

we need to find two integers a and b that fulfills the following conditions:

[tex]\begin{gathered} ab=C \\ a+b=B \end{gathered}[/tex]

In that way we write the original expression as:

[tex]x^2+Bx+C=x^2+ax+bx+C[/tex]

and then we facto by grouping.

Let's make the example to understand this better.

[tex]p^2-12p+20[/tex]

In this case B=-12 and C=20. We need to find two numbers that fulfills:

[tex]\begin{gathered} ab=20 \\ a+b=-12 \end{gathered}[/tex]

We see that the numbers a=-2 and b=-10, fulfill this conditions. Then we write the expression as:

[tex]p^2-12p+20=p^2-2p-10p+20[/tex]

and now we factor the first pair and second pair of terms by common factors:

[tex]\begin{gathered} p^2-12p+20=p^2-2p-10p+20 \\ =p(p-2)-10(p-2) \\ =(p-2)(p-10) \end{gathered}[/tex]

Therefore:

[tex]p^2-12p+20=(p-2)(p-10)[/tex]

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