It seems that $ -4x^{2}+x+15 $ cannot be factored out.
Step 1 :
After factoring out $ -1 $ we have:
$$ -4x^{2}+x+15 = - ~ ( 4x^{2}-x-15 ) $$Step 2 :
Step 2: 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:
Step 3: Multiply the leading coefficient $\color{blue}{ a = 4 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = -15} $.
$$ a \cdot c = -60 $$Step 4: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -60 $ and add to $ b = -1 $.
Step 5: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -60 $ are:
| PRODUCT = -60 | |
| -1 60 | 1 -60 |
| -2 30 | 2 -30 |
| -3 20 | 3 -20 |
| -4 15 | 4 -15 |
| -5 12 | 5 -12 |
| -6 10 | 6 -10 |
Step 6: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = -1 }$
Step 7: Because none of these pairs will give us a sum of $ \color{blue}{ -1 }$, we conclude the polynomial cannot be factored.