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 $\color{blue}{ a = 3 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = 7} $.
$$ a \cdot c = 21 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = 21 $ and add to $ b = 22 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ 21 $ are:
PRODUCT = 21 | |
1 21 | -1 -21 |
3 7 | -3 -7 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = 22 }$
PRODUCT = 21 and SUM = 22 | |
1 21 | -1 -21 |
3 7 | -3 -7 |
Step 6: Replace middle term $ 22 x $ with $ 21x+x $:
$$ 3x^{2}+22x+7 = 3x^{2}+21x+x+7 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 3x $ out of the first two terms and $ 1 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 3x^{2}+21x+x+7 = 3x\left(x+7\right) + 1\left(x+7\right) = \left(3x+1\right) \left(x+7\right) $$