Factor polynomial $$ 5x^{2}-8x-4 $$

$$ 5x^{2}-8x-4 = ( x-2 )( 5x+2 ) $$

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:

$$ a = 5 , b = -8 ~ \text{ and } ~ c = -4 $$

Step 2: Multiply the leading coefficient $\color{blue}{ a = 5 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = -4} $.

$$ a \cdot c = -20 $$

Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -20 $ and add to $ b = -8 $.

Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -20 $ are:

PRODUCT = -20
-1     20	1     -20
-2     10	2     -10
-4     5	4     -5

Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = -8 }$

PRODUCT = -20 and SUM = -8
-1     20	1     -20
-2     10	2     -10
-4     5	4     -5

Step 6: Replace middle term $ -8 x $ with $ 2x-10x $:

$$ 5x^{2}-8x-4 = 5x^{2}+2x-10x-4 $$

Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ x $ out of the first two terms and $ -2 $ out of the last two terms.

$$ 5x^{2}+2x-10x-4 = x\left(5x+2\right) -2\left(5x+2\right) = \left(x-2\right) \left(5x+2\right) $$

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