The problem
Click to see the original problem
I'm having a difficult time understanding which one takes the positive or negative sign .
Answer provided by our tutors
If you are referring to the initial step towards factoring, '2xy' is divided in '-3xy' and '+5xy', since 2xy=-3xy+5xy. This identifies two common factors, 'x' and '5y', so the final factor includes 'x+5y'.
