How do you factor 9x^4y^2 - z^6?

1 Answer
Mar 24, 2018

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

This is a special case of a quadratic:

color(red)(a)^2 - color(blue)(b)^2 = (color(red)(a) + color(blue)(b))(color(red)(a) - color(blue)(b))

  • Let color(red)(a) = 3x^2y; Then color(red)(a)^2 = 9x^4y^2

  • Let color(blue)(b) = z^3; Then color(blue)(b)^2 = z^6

Substituting gives:

color(red)(9x^4y^2) - color(blue)(z^6) =>

color(red)((3x^2y))^2 - color(blue)((z^3))^2 =>

(color(red)(3x^2y) + color(blue)(z^3))(color(red)(3x^2y) - color(blue)(z^3))