Nirvana

thanks guys! but wait asinus,,,shouldn't it be 2.78 *10^8 if you want to write it in scientific notation ?

the vertex = (h,k) 
h= -b/2a
you want to simplify your expresion (6x+12)(x-8) 
and when you do so you get something that is x^2+bx+c form (standard) so you know that if you were to graph this parabola, it would have a minimum since your a value is positive 
f(x)+ a(x-h)^2+k 
you want to then take your standard form equation and you can either put it into vertex form, or you can use -b/2a to get your h value which is the x value of your vertex, and then take the f(-b/2a) meaning take that value you got from your -b/2a and plug it into your equation as x and solve and then you get your k value. 
OR  
you can just write it into vertex form and you can then extract (h,k) and done!! 
hope this helped you somehow :)

would it be right if i divided up the powers and broke them down? 

btw thank you ep!! 

thanks so much EP !!

love the problem!! 
it's so creative!! :D

i think it just means moderator? :) 

oh wait! you were referring to something else LOL!

thanks melody! :)

if i were you, i'd try to learn this because i didn't really understand it and it really made me struggle.....if you are looking for an answer that is. 

try it out,,,,,search some examples up on yt see if it helps you. 

you divide by 2 because the 2 is in your denominator therefore it is a fraction...... 
for example 5 divided by 2 could also be seen as 5 TIMES 1/2 :) 

hope this helps in some way. 

wait why was my post removed and why is the rest invisible....i did not say anything bad. 
I just told him to ignore the mean guest who thinks they are better than everybody else. :(

awe ill miss you CU