Question

How do you simplify `(x + 2)(x - 2)`?

Answer 1

`(x+2)(x-2)=x^2-4`

Explanation:

Use the distributive property to multiply both terms in the first set of parenthesis by the terms in the second set:
First the `x`:
`x*x=x^2`.
`x*(-2)=-2x`.
Now the `2`:
`2*x=2x`.
`2*(-2)=-4`.
We came up with four terms: `x^2-2x+2x-4`.
Simplify the expression by adding the middle terms, and we get just `x^2-4`.

This is a special kind of binomial (a binomial is an expression with two terms) called a difference of squares. Since `(x+2)&(x-2)` are the same except for the sign in between, the answer is just the first term squared (`x^2`) minus the second term squared
-(`2^2)=-4`.
Here's more about difference of squares: https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/difference-of-squares.html