1. The problem is to simplify the quadratic expression $x^2 - 9x + 14$. 2. We use factoring to simplify quadratic expressions of the form $ax^2 + bx + c$ by finding two numbers that multiply to $ac$ and add to $b$. 3. Here, $a=1$, $b=-9$, and $c=14$. We need two numbers that multiply to $14$ and add to $-9$. 4. The numbers are $-7$ and $-2$ because $-7 \times -2 = 14$ and $-7 + -2 = -9$. 5. So, we factor the expression as: $$x^2 - 9x + 14 = (x - 7)(x - 2)$$ 6. This is the simplified factored form of the quadratic expression.