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 $\color{blue}{ a = 4 }$ by the constant term $\color{blue}{c = 12} $.
$$ a \cdot c = 48 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = 48 $ and add to $ b = 19 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ 48 $ are:
| PRODUCT = 48 | |
| 1 48 | -1 -48 |
| 2 24 | -2 -24 |
| 3 16 | -3 -16 |
| 4 12 | -4 -12 |
| 6 8 | -6 -8 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = 19 }$
| PRODUCT = 48 and SUM = 19 | |
| 1 48 | -1 -48 |
| 2 24 | -2 -24 |
| 3 16 | -3 -16 |
| 4 12 | -4 -12 |
| 6 8 | -6 -8 |
Step 6: Replace middle term $ 19 x $ with $ 16x+3x $:
$$ 4x^{2}+19x+12 = 4x^{2}+16x+3x+12 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 4x $ out of the first two terms and $ 3 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 4x^{2}+16x+3x+12 = 4x\left(x+4\right) + 3\left(x+4\right) = \left(4x+3\right) \left(x+4\right) $$