Example

Factoring a211ab+10b2a^2 - 11ab + 10b^2

To factor the trinomial a211ab+10b2a^2 - 11ab + 10b^2, find two numbers that multiply to the coefficient of the last term (10) and add to the coefficient of the middle term (-11). The terms in the binomials will begin with aa and end with bb. Since the last term is positive and the middle term is negative, both numerical coefficients must be negative. The negative factor pairs of 10 are -1 and -10, and -2 and -5. The pair -1 and -10 adds up to -11. Therefore, use -1 and -10 as the coefficients for bb in the binomials. The factored form is (ab)(a10b)(a - b)(a - 10b). We can check the result by multiplying: (ab)(a10b)=a210abab+10b2=a211ab+10b2(a - b)(a - 10b) = a^2 - 10ab - ab + 10b^2 = a^2 - 11ab + 10b^2.

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Updated 2026-06-27

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