It seems that $ 12x^{2}+x+20 $ cannot be factored out.
Step 1: 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 2: Multiply the leading coefficient $\color{blue}{ a = 12 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = 20} $.
$$ a \cdot c = 240 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = 240 $ and add to $ b = 1 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ 240 $ are:
| PRODUCT = 240 | |
| 1 240 | -1 -240 |
| 2 120 | -2 -120 |
| 3 80 | -3 -80 |
| 4 60 | -4 -60 |
| 5 48 | -5 -48 |
| 6 40 | -6 -40 |
| 8 30 | -8 -30 |
| 10 24 | -10 -24 |
| 12 20 | -12 -20 |
| 15 16 | -15 -16 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = 1 }$
Step 6: Because none of these pairs will give us a sum of $ \color{blue}{ 1 }$, we conclude the polynomial cannot be factored.