Think of it this way, for 5x^2-7x+2…you take the 2 outside numbers (5 and 2) and then multiply them. This makes 10. Then you take the middle number (-7) and try to think of 2 factors that multiply to 10, but add up to -7. That would be -2 and -5. Then you plug those 2 numbers into the middle, replacing the -7. This is how it looks:

5x^2-7x+2

5x^2-2x-5x+2 —–> now you have to add brackets in order to get your factors.

(5x^2-2x)(-5x+2) —-> now take out the greatest common factors

x(5x-2)-1(5x-2)

now look at the last equation carefully….both x and -1 are being multiplyed by (5x-2)

that means it is a common factor, and you can rewrite the equation like this:

(5x-2)(x-1)

hope this helps. you should write it down on paper if you still dont get it, since the ^’s on the computer can get confusing.