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 $\color{blue}{ a = 20 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = 4} $.
$$ a \cdot c = 80 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = 80 $ and add to $ b = 21 $.
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 $\color{blue}{ b = 21 }$
PRODUCT = 80 and SUM = 21 | |
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 $ 21 x $ with $ 16x+5x $:
$$ 20x^{2}+21x+4 = 20x^{2}+16x+5x+4 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 4x $ out of the first two terms and $ 1 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 20x^{2}+16x+5x+4 = 4x\left(5x+4\right) + 1\left(5x+4\right) = \left(4x+1\right) \left(5x+4\right) $$