Algebra Examples

$x^{4} + 3 x^{2} - 4$

Step 1

Rewrite $x^{4}$ as ${(x^{2})}^{2}$ .

${(x^{2})}^{2} + 3 x^{2} - 4$

Step 2

Let $u = x^{2}$ . Substitute $u$ for all occurrences of $x^{2}$ .

$u^{2} + 3 u - 4$

Step 3

Factor $u^{2} + 3 u - 4$ using the AC method.

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $- 4$ and whose sum is $3$ .

$- 1, 4$

Step 3.2

Write the factored form using these integers.

$(u - 1) (u + 4)$

Step 4

Replace all occurrences of $u$ with $x^{2}$ .

$(x^{2} - 1) (x^{2} + 4)$

Step 5

Rewrite $1$ as $1^{2}$ .

$(x^{2} - 1^{2}) (x^{2} + 4)$

Step 6

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = x$ and $b = 1$ .

$(x + 1) (x - 1) (x^{2} + 4)$