In Week 7 of Math 10 we completed our polynomials test and after that, looked at solving ‘ugly trinomials’, which are trinomial expressions that are not easy to solve just by looking at the question, you actually have to go through a process to figure out the proper answer.
- Write out your expression. Under the first and last numbers, write out any 2 numbers that might multiply to equal it. Make sure you write all of the numbers out, so starting at 1 might be a good idea. If it is an even number, the number of multiples will be much higher so it will be a long question to solve.
2. Then, you have to multiply the first and last numbers together, which, in this question, would equal to 60. Now, find the pair that adds to the number in the middle of the expression, which would be 20 and 3. In an Area diagram, place the first number of the expression in the top left square and the last number in the bottom right square.
3. You then need to look through the factors of 60 and attempt to place them into the diagram. In this expression, we will have 2x+1 on the horizontal boxes and 3x+10 on the vertical boxes on the left. Now you can place the numbers in, and you’re finished! You have to work backward in doing these sorts of expressions. 