factor the basic trinomial:

Question

3x^2 - 15x + 12

Answer 1

To factor the trinomial 3x^2 - 15x + 12, we first look for the greatest common factor. In this case, the greatest common factor is 3.

Therefore, we can factor out the common factor of 3:

3(x^2 - 5x + 4)

Now, we need to factor the quadratic trinomial x^2 - 5x + 4. This can be factored as:

3(x - 4)(x - 1)

Therefore, the factored form of 3x^2 - 15x + 12 is 3(x - 4)(x - 1).