Question

Factor completely: 3a^2 + 5a − 12

Prime
(3a + 4)(a − 3)
(3a − 4)(a + 3)
(3a − 3)(a + 4)

Answer 1

Your answer would be the second option, (3a - 4)(a + 3).

We can see that this is the correct answer as if we expand it using FOIL, we get 3a² + 5a - 12:

(3a × a) + (3a × 3) + (-4 × a) + (-4 × 3) = 3a² + 9a - 4a - 12
= 3a² + 5a - 12.

I hope this helps!