Step 1 :
After factoring out $ -3 $ we have:
$$ -60x^{2}+21x+18 = -3 ( 20x^{2}-7x-6 ) $$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 $\color{blue}{ a = 20 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = -6} $.
$$ a \cdot c = -120 $$Step 4: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -120 $ and add to $ b = -7 $.
Step 5: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -120 $ are:
| PRODUCT = -120 | |
| -1 120 | 1 -120 |
| -2 60 | 2 -60 |
| -3 40 | 3 -40 |
| -4 30 | 4 -30 |
| -5 24 | 5 -24 |
| -6 20 | 6 -20 |
| -8 15 | 8 -15 |
| -10 12 | 10 -12 |
Step 6: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = -7 }$
| PRODUCT = -120 and SUM = -7 | |
| -1 120 | 1 -120 |
| -2 60 | 2 -60 |
| -3 40 | 3 -40 |
| -4 30 | 4 -30 |
| -5 24 | 5 -24 |
| -6 20 | 6 -20 |
| -8 15 | 8 -15 |
| -10 12 | 10 -12 |
Step 7: Replace middle term $ -7 x $ with $ 8x-15x $:
$$ 20x^{2}-7x-6 = 20x^{2}+8x-15x-6 $$Step 8: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 4x $ out of the first two terms and $ -3 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 20x^{2}+8x-15x-6 = 4x\left(5x+2\right) -3\left(5x+2\right) = \left(4x-3\right) \left(5x+2\right) $$