How do you factor completely w^2 - w^2 y^4?

1 Answer
Apr 4, 2018

w^2(1+y)(1-y)(1+y^2)

Explanation:

This is just a difference of squares. When you have a^2 - b^2, it's is equal to (a+b)(a-b). Just simply expand it to see why. In this case, it would be

(w)^2 - (w*y^2)^2

(w- wy^2)(w + wy^2)

w^2(1-y^2)(1+y^2)

w^2(1+y)(1-y)(1+y^2)