Algebra Examples

$x^{2} y^{2} - 16$

Step 1

Rewrite $x^{2} y^{2}$ as ${(x y)}^{2}$ .

${(x y)}^{2} - 16$

Step 2

Rewrite $16$ as $4^{2}$ .

${(x y)}^{2} - 4^{2}$

Step 3

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = x y$ and $b = 4$ .

$(x y + 4) (x y - 4)$