Question

Two students, Jennifer and Jamal, factored the trinomial 4x2 − 6x − 4. Jennifer factored it as 2(x − 2)(2x + 1) and Jamal factored it as (x − 2)(4x + 2). Indicate which student factored the trinomial completely and which student did not, and explain why

Answer 1

Jennifer factored it completely because she pulled out the common factor of the three terms, which 2.

This simplifies the trinomial to 2(2x^2-3x-2) and then this factors to be 2(x − 2)(2x + 1)