Final answer:
To solve the quadratic equation 2r^2 - 5r + 2 = 0 by factoring, set each factor equal to zero and solve.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve the quadratic equation 2r^2 - 5r + 2 = 0 by factoring, we need to find two numbers that multiply to give the constant term (2) and add up to give the coefficient of the middle term (-5). In this case, the numbers are -2 and -1. Therefore, we can factor the quadratic equation as (2r - 1)(r - 2) = 0. By setting each factor equal to zero, we can solve for r. So the solutions are r = 1/2 and r = 2.