Question

x^2 - 26x + 240 factorise

Answer 1

hey mate your answer

The first term is,  x2  its coefficient is  1 .
The middle term is,  -26x  its coefficient is  -26 .
The last term, "the constant", is  -240 

Step-1 : Multiply the coefficient of the first term by the constant   1 • -240 = -240 

Step-2 : Find two factors of  -240  whose sum equals the coefficient of the middle term, which is   -26 .

     -240   +   1   =   -239     -120   +   2   =   -118     -80   +   3   =   -77     -60   +   4   =   -56     -48   +   5   =   -43     -40   +   6   =   -34


For tidiness, printing of 14 lines which failed to find two such factors, was suppressed

hope it helps