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 $\color{blue}{ a = 16 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = -5} $.
$$ a \cdot c = -80 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -80 $ and add to $ b = -2 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -80 $ are:
PRODUCT = -80 | |
-1 80 | 1 -80 |
-2 40 | 2 -40 |
-4 20 | 4 -20 |
-5 16 | 5 -16 |
-8 10 | 8 -10 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = -2 }$
PRODUCT = -80 and SUM = -2 | |
-1 80 | 1 -80 |
-2 40 | 2 -40 |
-4 20 | 4 -20 |
-5 16 | 5 -16 |
-8 10 | 8 -10 |
Step 6: Replace middle term $ -2 x $ with $ 8x-10x $:
$$ 16x^{2}-2x-5 = 16x^{2}+8x-10x-5 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 8x $ out of the first two terms and $ -5 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 16x^{2}+8x-10x-5 = 8x\left(2x+1\right) -5\left(2x+1\right) = \left(8x-5\right) \left(2x+1\right) $$