Precalculus Examples

$(x - 1) (x + 2) = 0$

Step 1

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$x - 1 = 0$

$x + 2 = 0$

Step 2

Set $x - 1$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.1

Set $x - 1$ equal to $0$ .

$x - 1 = 0$

Step 2.2

Add $1$ to both sides of the equation.

$x = 1$

Step 3

Set $x + 2$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1

Set $x + 2$ equal to $0$ .

$x + 2 = 0$

Step 3.2

Subtract $2$ from both sides of the equation.

$x = - 2$

Step 4

The final solution is all the values that make $(x - 1) (x + 2) = 0$ true.

$x = 1, - 2$