How do I know if I should factor this or use the quadratic formula?

Yehia Ahmed Verified teacher · 11h ago

To check whether a quadratic equation can be factorized, first check if a = 1. If it is, look for two numbers that multiply to give c and add to give b. If you can find two numbers that satisfy both conditions, then the equation can be factorized. If a is not equal to 1, which is the case here, multiply a by c first. Then look for two numbers that multiply to give a × c and add to give b. If you can find them, then you can factorize the equation.