x^2-8x-20 your gonna make me fail so factor good

Answer 1

To factor the quadratic expression \( x^2 - 8x - 20 \), we need to find two numbers that multiply to \(-20\) (the constant term) and add up to \(-8\) (the coefficient of the \(x\) term).

The numbers that satisfy these conditions are \(-10\) and \(2\), because:

• \(-10 \times 2 = -20\) (they multiply to \(-20\))
• \(-10 + 2 = -8\) (they add up to \(-8\))

So, we can factor the quadratic as follows:

\[ x^2 - 8x - 20 = (x - 10)(x + 2) \]

Thus, the factored form of the expression is:

\[ (x - 10)(x + 2) \]