
Here we will show you how to factor the quadratic function 14x² + 93x + 79 using the box method. In other words, we will show you how to factor 14x squared plus 93x plus 79 (14x^2 + 93x + 79) using the box method. It is a 5-step process:
Step 1: The standard form of a quadratic equation is ax² + bx + c. We start by labeling the different parts of our equation 14x² + 93x + 79, like this:
a = 14
b = 93
c = 79
Step 2: Next, we need to draw a box and divide it into four squares:
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
More specifically, 14 times 79 is 1106. Therefore, we need to find the two numbers that multiply to equal 1106, and add to equal 93.
? × ? = 1106
? + ? = 93
After looking at this problem, we can see that the two numbers that multiply together to equal 1106, and add together to equal 93, are 14 and 79, as illustrated here:
14 × 79 = 1106
14 + 79 = 93
Now, we can fill in the last two squares in our box with 14x and 79x. Place 14x in the upper left square, and place 79x in the lower right square.
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
Our goal is to find the numbers that, when multiplied together, result in the products in each square. We can do this by finding the greatest common factor in each row.
Let’s look at the top row. We have the terms 14x and 79. The greatest common factor of 14x and 79 is 1. Therefore, we write 1 to the left of the top row. You can see it here in the color green:
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
14x² ÷ x = 14x
You can see this value colored in orange below:
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
Next, we divide 79x by x (labeled in blue). This gives us 79.
79x ÷ x = 79
You can see this value colored in purple below:
1 | 14x | 79 |
x | 14x² | 79x |
14x | 79 |
Step 5: Now we have all of the information we need to finish factoring the equation. The values outside of the box are used to factor 14x² + 93x + 79. You simply put the values on the left in one set of parentheses, and the values below in another set of parentheses, to get the answer:
(x + 1)(14x + 79)
That’s it! Now you know how to factor the equation 14x² + 93x + 79.
Factoring Quadratics
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