The process of factoring a trinomial with a leading coefficient that is not equal to one is as follows:

Step 1: Make sure that the trinomial is written in the correct order, i.e., it should be written in
descending order from the highest power to the lowest power.
Step 2 : Decide if the three terms have anything in common, called the greatest common factor or
GCF. If it has, factor out the GCF. Include the GCF as part of the final answer.
Step 3 : Multiply the leading coefficient and the constant, that is multiply the first and last
numbers together.
Step 4 : List all of the factors from Step 3 and decide which combination of numbers will combine
to get the number next to x.
Step 5 : After choosing the correct pair of numbers, assign each number a sign so that when they
are combined they will equal the number next to x and also multiply to equal the number
found in Step 3.
Step 6 : Rewrite the original problem with four terms by splitting the middle term into the two
numbers chosen in step 5.
Step 7 : Now that the problem is written with four terms, it can be factored by grouping.

If the leading coefficient is one, then this method becomes easier due to the fact that
multiplication by 1 is simple and generally results in smaller numbers.

Example-
Factor 6x
2
+x-2
6x
2
-3x+4x-2
3x(2x-1)+2(2x-1)
(3x+2)(2x-1)

The FOIL Method is a process used in algebra to multiply two binomials. FOIL stands for:
First - Multiply the first term in each set of parentheses
Outer - Multiply the outer term in each set of parentheses
Inner - Multiply the inner term in each set of parentheses
Last - Multiply the last term in each set of parentheses
An example
(3+7x)(6+2x)
Using FOIL, we get
18+6x+42x+14x
2

18+48x+14x
2