Asked by kasdfa

A student factors a6 - 64 to (a2 - 4)(a4 + 4a2 + 16).

Which statement about (a2 − 4)(a4 + 4a2 + 16) is correct?


The expression is equivalent and is completely factored.

The expression is equivalent, but the (a2 – 4) term is not completely factored.

The expression is equivalent, but the (a4 + 4a2 + 16) term is not completely factored.

The expression is not equivalent.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The expression is equivalent, but it is not completely factored — both factors can be factored further.

a^2 − 4 = (a − 2)(a + 2), and
a^4 + 4a^2 + 16 = (a^2 + 2a + 4)(a^2 − 2a + 4).

So the full factorization is (a − 2)(a + 2)(a^2 + 2a + 4)(a^2 − 2a + 4).