Try to Factor a Polynomial by Rewriting It as the Difference Between Two Squares

When you are working on "factoring a polynomial," sometimes your polynomial can be written using the difference between two squares. What does the difference between two squares mean? Well, difference means "subtract," so it will involve subtracting two things. Two squares means there will be two perfect squares in the difference; that is, two numbers that come from squaring other numbers (like 4, which is 2 squared, or x², which is x times x).

Type your polynomial into the box to the right. This page will see if your polynomial can be written using the difference between two squares. Note that not all polynomials can be written this way, so do not be disappointed if your ’ s can ’ t.

Note also you use the ^ symbol for exponent. So, x² would be typed as x^2.

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