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How do you factor $16 - 9 y^{2}$ $16 - 9y^2$ ?

1 Answer

Mar 26, 2016

$16 - 9 y^{2} = (4 - 3 y) (4 + 3 y)$ $16-9y^2=color(green)((4-3y)(4+3y))$

Explanation:

Remember in general that
$XXX (a^{2} - b^{2}) = (a - b) (a + b)$ $color(white)("XXX")(a^2-b^2)=(a-b)(a+b)$

$16 - 9 y$ $16-9y$ can be written as
$XXX {(4)}^{2} - {(3 y)}^{2}$ $color(white)("XXX")(4)^2-(3y)^2$

Using $4 = a$ $4=a$ and $(3 y) = b$ $(3y)=b$ in the general equation
we see that the original expression can be factored as
$XXX (4 - 3 y) (4 + 3 y)$ $color(white)("XXX")(4-3y)(4+3y)$

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