Solve by Factoring 2x^2+17x+21=0

$2 x^{2} + 17 x + 21 = 0$

Step 1

Factor by grouping.

For a polynomial of the form $a x^{2} + b x + c$ , rewrite the middle term as a sum of two terms whose product is $a \cdot c = 2 \cdot 21 = 42$ and whose sum is $b = 17$ .

Factor $17$ out of $17 x$ .

$2 x^{2} + 17 (x) + 21 = 0$

Rewrite $17$ as $3$ plus $14$

$2 x^{2} + (3 + 14) x + 21 = 0$

Apply the distributive property.

$2 x^{2} + 3 x + 14 x + 21 = 0$

Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.

Group the first two terms and the last two terms.

$(2 x^{2} + 3 x) + 14 x + 21 = 0$

Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.

$x (2 x + 3) + 7 (2 x + 3) = 0$

Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, $2 x + 3$ .

$(2 x + 3) (x + 7) = 0$

Step 2

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$2 x + 3 = 0$

$x + 7 = 0$

Step 3

Set $2 x + 3$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

Set $2 x + 3$ equal to $0$ .

$2 x + 3 = 0$

Solve $2 x + 3 = 0$ for $x$ .

Subtract $3$ from both sides of the equation.

$2 x = - 3$

Divide each term in $2 x = - 3$ by $2$ and simplify.

Divide each term in $2 x = - 3$ by $2$ .

$\frac{2 x}{2} = \frac{- 3}{2}$

Simplify the left side.

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{2 x}{2} = \frac{- 3}{2}$

Divide $x$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{- 3}{2}$

Simplify the right side.

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$x = - \frac{3}{2}$

Step 4

Set $x + 7$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

Set $x + 7$ equal to $0$ .

$x + 7 = 0$

Subtract $7$ from both sides of the equation.

$x = - 7$

Step 5

The final solution is all the values that make $(2 x + 3) (x + 7) = 0$ true.

$x = - \frac{3}{2}, - 7$

Solve by Factoring 2x^2+17x+21=0

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