Question

factor completely.
$x^2 - 8x - 20$

Explanation:

Step1: Find two numbers

We need two numbers that multiply to $-20$ and add up to $-8$. Let's list the factor pairs of $-20$:

• $(-10)\times2=-20$ and $-10 + 2=-8$

Step2: Factor the quadratic

Using the numbers we found, we can factor $x^{2}-8x - 20$ as $(x - 10)(x + 2)$ because when we expand $(x - 10)(x + 2)$ using the distributive property (FOIL method), we get $x^{2}+2x-10x - 20=x^{2}-8x - 20$.

Answer:

$(x - 10)(x + 2)$