5n-n^2 factoring?

Question

How do you know whether to factor out a (-n)?

 

If i did:

   -n(n-5)

 

but if i did:

   n(-n+5)

 

which one is correct?

The answer of my book says -n(n-5)

 

Do I always have to make sure that the n is a positive?

 

 

Answer 1

Both have the same value so are technically correct.

 

But custom dictates that the factors are presented in a way that makes it easy to mentally calculate the zeros, so -n(n-5) is preferred because it's easier to see that the zeros are 0 and 5.