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 = -8} $.
$$ a \cdot c = -160 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -160 $ and add to $ b = 27 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -160 $ are:
PRODUCT = -160 | |
-1 160 | 1 -160 |
-2 80 | 2 -80 |
-4 40 | 4 -40 |
-5 32 | 5 -32 |
-8 20 | 8 -20 |
-10 16 | 10 -16 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = 27 }$
PRODUCT = -160 and SUM = 27 | |
-1 160 | 1 -160 |
-2 80 | 2 -80 |
-4 40 | 4 -40 |
-5 32 | 5 -32 |
-8 20 | 8 -20 |
-10 16 | 10 -16 |
Step 6: Replace middle term $ 27 x $ with $ 32x-5x $:
$$ 20x^{2}+27x-8 = 20x^{2}+32x-5x-8 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 4x $ out of the first two terms and $ -1 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 20x^{2}+32x-5x-8 = 4x\left(5x+8\right) -1\left(5x+8\right) = \left(4x-1\right) \left(5x+8\right) $$