Here is a worthwhile video one factoring quadratics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-NRsWhOGI

If you are not into watching clips then maybe my rather ancient post will help you here.   

http://web2.0calc.com/questions/grouping-method-and-factorizing-quadratic-equations

The clip is included at the end anyway :)

I dragged this out of our Sticky Topic "Reference Material"  There is some good stuff in there 

Yes, it is.

(2y + 1) (y + 4)

is this question factorable 2y^2+9y+4

2y²+9y+4

I must admit, I nearly replied saying I didn't think this could be factorised, but luckily I got it in the end.

First we would look to see if there are common factors between the terms, there are none in this case. I then made the mistake of just looking for two numbers that could be added together to make 9 and multiplied together to make 4. Luckily I then laid out my brackets like this;

(2y??)(y??)

and remembered that the 2 before the "y" was also going to affect the two numbers that I was looking for.

The answer is yes, it is factorable. If you follow the layout of the brackets and their contents that I have given, hopefully you can fill in the gaps where I have question marks. If not, please reply and I or someone else will give you further help.

Thanks Melody, that's quite useful.