What is the factored form of 3x^2-10x+8?

(3x - 4) (x - 2)

Step-by-step explanation:

Let me explain in detail the steps of how I got the factored form. It's kind of something you have to do a bit of trial and error for.

You can put 3x as the first term and x as the third, because the only two factors of the 3 in 3x^2 are 3 and 1. List out all the factor pairs of 8: 8 and 1, 2 and 4. You should be able to tell that if you multiply 3 * 2, you get 6, which equals 10 when added with 4. You know it has to be two minus signs, because the middle term is negative (-10x) and the last term is positive (8). The only way you can get a positive 8 is if you multiply two negatives or two positives, and to get - 10x you need at least one negative.