Question

determine if the expression shown can be factored using differences of two squares 36x^5-2x
Will It be
Difference of two squares cannot be used because there are more than two terms
The expression can be factored using differences of two squares
Differences of two squares cannot be used because all terms are not perfect
Differences of two squares cannot be used because two terms are being added together

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To determine if the expression \( 36x^5 - 2x \) can be factored using the difference of two squares, we first need to recognize the form required for this type of factoring.

The difference of two squares states that \( a^2 - b^2 = (a-b)(a+b) \). In order to use this method, the expression needs to consist of exactly two terms, one of which is subtracted from the other.

Let's analyze the provided expression \( 36x^5 - 2x \).

1. **It has 2 terms**: The expression consists of \( 36x^5 \) and \( -2x \).
2. **Both terms are perfect squares**: We need to check if they can be expressed as squares.
- \( 36x^5 \) can be rewritten as \( (6x^{5/2})^2 \) (but \( x^{5/2} \) is not a perfect square).
- \( 2x \) is not a perfect square either.

So, neither term in the expression is a perfect square.

3. **Difference of squares**: The expression is indeed of the form \( a^2 - b^2 \). However, since neither term can be expressed as a perfect square, we cannot factor it using the difference of two squares.

Given these observations, the most fitting statement from your options is:

**Differences of two squares cannot be used because all terms are not perfect squares.**