The expression given can be rewritten as:
\[ x^2 - 121 \]
This is a difference of squares, which can be factored using the difference of squares formula:
\[ a^2 - b^2 = (a - b)(a + b) \]
In this case, we can identify:
- \( a = x \)
- \( b = 11 \) (since \( 121 = 11^2 \))
Thus, we can factor \( x^2 - 121 \) as:
\[ (x - 11)(x + 11) \]
Hence, in the form \( (x + a)(x + b) \):
- \( a = -11 \)
- \( b = 11 \)
So the values of \( a \) and \( b \) are:
- \( a = -11 \)
- \( b = 11 \)