Question

Factor the following quadratic equation. You can use either method presented in the examples (i.e. FOIL or "X").

x^2+x-56=(x+?)(x-?)

Answer 1

Looking at the constant term of x^2+x-56, I immediately recognized that factors of -56 are either (-7)(8) or (-8)(7). Note that +8x-7x = 1x, which matches the middle term of x^2+x-56.

Thus, the roots are -7 and 8, and the corresponding factors are

(x+7) and (x-8).