factor:

-20x^2 + 5y^2

is it

-20x^2 + 5y^2
= -5(4x^2-y^2)

no the answer is

-5(2x-y)(2x+y)
^is that right??

Yes !!! You got it.

even the -1 * -1 = + 1 part

thankyou!

To factor the expression -20x^2 + 5y^2, we first look for any common factors.

The expression -20x^2 + 5y^2 has a common factor of 5, so we can factor it out:

-20x^2 + 5y^2 = 5(-4x^2 + y^2)

Now, let's focus on the expression inside the parentheses: -4x^2 + y^2. This is a difference of squares because we have the square of a binomial (y^2) minus the square of another binomial (2x^2).

The formula for factoring a difference of squares is: a^2 - b^2 = (a + b)(a - b).

In our case, a = y and b = 2x. So we can rewrite the expression as:

-4x^2 + y^2 = (y + 2x)(y - 2x)

Therefore, the factored form of -20x^2 + 5y^2 is:

-20x^2 + 5y^2 = 5(y + 2x)(y - 2x)