Factor the expression completely.

Question

3x^2-3x-60

Answer 1

First, we can try to factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) of the expression. The GCF of 3x^2, -3x, and -60 is 3.

Factoring out the GCF, we have:

3(x^2 - x - 20)

Now, we can try to factor the quadratic expression inside the parentheses. We need to find two numbers that multiply to -20 and add up to -1 (since the coefficient of the x term is -1).

The two numbers that satisfy these conditions are -5 and 4.

So, we can factor the quadratic expression as:

3(x - 5)(x + 4)

Therefore, the expression is completely factored as 3(x - 5)(x + 4).