How do you determine if a polynomial is the difference of two squares?
The difference of 2 squares is a poly-
nomial with 2 terms separated by a minus sign. Both terms are perfect
squares. For example, X^2 - 4 is the difference of 2 squares; because you
can take the sqrt of both terms with
nothing left under the radical.
2X^2 - 4 is not a perfect square; when
you take the sqrt of 2X^2,you will have sqrt2 left under the radical.
X^2 -4 = (X + 2)(X - 2) in factored
form. If you remove parenthesis and
combine like-terms, you will return
to original form.