Suppose one of your friends is struggling with the process used to factor a trinomial. You show your friend this formula for a trinomial: ax2 + bc + c   where  a≠0a≠0  and a≠1a≠1

Next, you give your friend this equation as an example:

2×2 + 11x + 12.

Imagine that you go on to instruct your friend on factoring trinomials using this example.

• What do you think is a common mistake that your friend might make when factoring this type of trinomial?
• What advice would you give your friend for avoiding this mistake?
• What would you tell your friend to do in order to check his work after he factored the trinomial?