The factor with the greater absolute value must have the same sign as b . 2. Remember to remove the GCF first. Find two F irst terms with a product of ax 2 . Find two L ast terms with a product of c. If c is negative, the binomials will have different signs.
Signs are different since c is negative.
Consider the example below. Signs are both negative since c is positive and bx is nega tive. Check the sum of the outer and inner products. Check each factor of the factored polynomial to assure that each factor is a prime polynomial. Check the correctness of the factored form by multiplying the factors and comparing the result with the original polynomial to be factored.