text: Factoring is another method of solving the problem.  In your first example, you could write:\n\n0 = x^2 + 4x + 3\n\nwhich is equivalent to:\n\n0 = (x+1)(x+3)  <----  This is factoring the quadratic\n\nOnce you have it factored, you can solve the problem by setting either factor equal to 0, such as:\n\n0 = (x+1) which solves as x=(-1)\n0 = (x+3) which solves as x=(-3)\n\nIf you plus -1 or -3 back into the original equation for X you'll see that they are indeed correct solutions.