Answer:
Your answer would be (x - 4)(x + 10)
Step-by-step explanation:
[tex]x^{2}[/tex] + 6x - 40 =
So you first figure out what times what equals 1 (because there is a one in front of the [tex]x^{2}[/tex]) That is just x.
(x ? ?)(x ? ?)
Next, you move onto the -40. Figure out what times what equals 40. These two numbers that you multiple then need to be added to make the middle number, which, in this case, is 6.
So 5 times -8 would be out of the picture because 8 - 5 is not 6.
-4 times 10 equals -40
So then you need to figure out WHERE you plug these in.
It would look like (x - 4)(x + 10)
It would NOT be (x - 10)(x + 4) because 4 plus -10 is -6, and we need a positive 6.
You can then check your answer by factoring, which would give you [tex]x^{2}[/tex] + 10x - 4x -40, simplify, and now you have [tex]x^{2}[/tex] + 6x - 40.
Sorry if that was wayyyy too confusing!!
