Step 1 :
After factoring out $ 3x $ we have:
$$ 12x^{3}+18x^{2}+3x = 3x ( 4x^{2}+6x+1 ) $$Step 2 :
Step 2: 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 3: Multiply the leading coefficient $\color{blue}{ a = 4 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = 1} $.
$$ a \cdot c = 4 $$Step 4: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = 4 $ and add to $ b = 6 $.
Step 5: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ 4 $ are:
PRODUCT = 4 | |
1 4 | -1 -4 |
2 2 | -2 -2 |
Step 6: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = 6 }$
Step 7: Because none of these pairs will give us a sum of $ \color{blue}{ 6 }$, we conclude the polynomial cannot be factored.