Step 1: Identify constants $ a $ , $ b $ and $ c $.
$ a $ is a number in front of the $ x^2 $ term $ b $ is a number in front of the $ x $ term and $ c $ is a constant. In this case:
Step 2: Multiply the leading coefficient $\color{blue}{ a = 10 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = -2} $.
$$ a \cdot c = -20 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -20 $ and add to $ b = -1 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -20 $ are:
PRODUCT = -20 | |
-1 20 | 1 -20 |
-2 10 | 2 -10 |
-4 5 | 4 -5 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = -1 }$
PRODUCT = -20 and SUM = -1 | |
-1 20 | 1 -20 |
-2 10 | 2 -10 |
-4 5 | 4 -5 |
Step 6: Replace middle term $ -1 x $ with $ 4x-5x $:
$$ 10x^{2}-x-2 = 10x^{2}+4x-5x-2 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 2x $ out of the first two terms and $ -1 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 10x^{2}+4x-5x-2 = 2x\left(5x+2\right) -1\left(5x+2\right) = \left(2x-1\right) \left(5x+2\right) $$