Demonstration of a shortcut that can be used to factor a quadratic trinomial with a leading coefficient of 1.
A quadratic trinomial with a leading coefficient of 1 is factored, producing a four-term polynomial. The factor is then checked by multiplying using the FOIL method.
A quadratic trinomial is a polynomial with three terms. In two of the terms the same variable appears, one that is raised to the second power and the other with an exponent of one. The third term in a quadratic trinomial is a constant. To factor a q...