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 = -35} $.
$$ a \cdot c = -140 $$Step 3: Find out two numbers that multiply to $ a \cdot c = -140 $ and add to $ b = -4 $.
Step 4: All pairs of numbers with a product of $ -140 $ are:
| PRODUCT = -140 | |
| -1 140 | 1 -140 |
| -2 70 | 2 -70 |
| -4 35 | 4 -35 |
| -5 28 | 5 -28 |
| -7 20 | 7 -20 |
| -10 14 | 10 -14 |
Step 5: Find out which factor pair sums up to $\color{blue}{ b = -4 }$
| PRODUCT = -140 and SUM = -4 | |
| -1 140 | 1 -140 |
| -2 70 | 2 -70 |
| -4 35 | 4 -35 |
| -5 28 | 5 -28 |
| -7 20 | 7 -20 |
| -10 14 | 10 -14 |
Step 6: Replace middle term $ -4 x $ with $ 10x-14x $:
$$ 4x^{2}-4x-35 = 4x^{2}+10x-14x-35 $$Step 7: Apply factoring by grouping. Factor $ 2x $ out of the first two terms and $ -7 $ out of the last two terms.
$$ 4x^{2}+10x-14x-35 = 2x\left(2x+5\right) -7\left(2x+5\right) = \left(2x-7\right) \left(2x+5\right) $$