Factor: (Remember: two numbers that add to make "b", but multiply to make "c")

\large x^2+3x+2

a
(x+1)(x+2)
b
(x+3)(x-1)
c
(x+3)(x+1)
d
(x+1)(x+1)

Answers

Answered by GPT-4o mini
To factor the quadratic expression \( x^2 + 3x + 2 \), we need to find two numbers that add to \( 3 \) (the coefficient of \( x \)) and multiply to \( 2 \) (the constant term).

The two numbers that fulfill these criteria are \( 1 \) and \( 2 \), since:

- \( 1 + 2 = 3 \)
- \( 1 \times 2 = 2 \)

Thus, we can factor the expression as:

\[
x^2 + 3x + 2 = (x + 1)(x + 2)
\]

The correct option is:

**a)** \((x + 1)(x + 2)\)

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