Factoring Using Difference of Squares

We use the sum and difference formula to factor a difference of two squares. A difference of two squares is any quadratic polynomial in the form \(\begin{align*}a^2 - b^2\end{align*}\), where \(\begin{align*}a\end{align*}\) and \(\begin{align*}b\end{align*}\) can be variables, constants, or just about anything else. The factors of \(\begin{align*}a^2 - b^2\end{align*}\) are always \(\begin{align*}(a + b)(a - b)\end{align*}\); the key is figuring out what the \(\begin{align*}a\end{align*}\) and \(\begin{align*}b\end{align*}\) terms are.