1.

Find all integers n such that the quadratic 5x2 + nx 13 can be expressed as the product of
two linear factors with integer coefficients.

Solution:
Since the leading term coefficient of the quadratic is 5, a prime number, the coefficients of the linear
factors x terms must be either 1 and 5 or -1 and -5.

Recall: A prime number is natural number greater than 1 that is only divisible by 1 and itself.

Given the prime leading coefficient, we can devise a general expression in the form of two products of
two linear factors with integer coefficients for each of the two cases (1 and 5, or -1 and -5):

Case 1: (x r)*(5x s)
Case 2: (-x r)*(-5x s)
Note: r, s are integers.

Let us consider Case 1. Setting this expression equal to our quadratic, 5x2 + nx 13 gives




(x r)*(5x s) = 5x2 + nx 13

FOILing the left hand side gives




5x2 x(s + 5r) + rs = 5x2 + nx 13

Notice that we now have the following constraints:
A) s + 5r = n
B) rs = -13

Since 13 is a prime number, its only factors are 1 and 13. Therefore, we have the following four cases
within constraint B:

B1) s = -13, r = 1



B2) s = 13, r = -1
B3) s = 1, r = -13



B4) s = -1, r = 13

Note that the product rs in each case above satisfies the B constraint of rs = -13. Plugging in the r, s
values of each respective case of constraint B into constraint A (n = s + 5r) gives


B1





B2
n = (-13) + 5(1)



n = (13) + 5(-1)
n = -13 + 5




n = 13 - 5
n = -8




n = +8

B3





B4
n = (1) + 5(-13)



n = (-1) + 5(13)
n = 1 - 65




n = -1 + 65
n = -64




n = +64

Therefore, for Case 1 we have shown that n = +8, -8, +64, -64 are the integers for n that yield the
expression of quadratic as the product of two linear factors with integer coefficients. Likewise, for
Case 2 we will arrive at the same results for n.

Check:
Observe case B1 where r = 1 and s = -13 correspond to n = +8. Beginning with our general expression
of Case 1:

(x r)*(5x s) = [x (+1)]*[5x (-13)] = (x 1)*(5x + 13) = 5x2 + 13x 5x 13 = 5x2 + 8x 13