Question

How do you factor special products of polynomials?

Answer 1

Look for numbers that are perfect squares or perfect cubes.
There are many special products in factoring. Three of the most well-known are
`(x+y)^2=x^2+2xy+y^2`
and
`(x−y)^2=x-2xy+y^2`
and
`(x+y)(x−y)=x^2−y^2`

Two less well-known ones are
`x^3+y^3=(x+y)(x^2−xy+y^2)`
and
`x^3−y^3=(x−y)(x^2+xy−y^2)`
Note that in an actual problem, x and y can be any number or variable. Hope this helped!