How do you factor when there's powers in the equation?

Answer 1

A power can be factored in many different ways; for example: x5 = x times x4 = x2 times x3. When such a power appears as a term in combination with other expressions, you should look out for common factoring patterns. Here are two examples:

x2 + x5

Here, you can use the pattern "common factor". In this case, both parts have the common factor x2, so you can factor it out.

x4 - 1

Here, you can use the pattern "difference of squares". Note that x4 is the square of x2, and 1 is the square of 1.