How do you simplify (x+2)(x−2)?

1 Answer
LizZ
May 7, 2018

(x+2)(x−2)=x2−4

Explanation:

Use the distributive property to multiply both terms in the first set of parenthesis by the terms in the second set:
First the x:
x⋅x=x2.
x⋅(−2)=−2x.
Now the 2:
2⋅x=2x.
2⋅(−2)=−4.
We came up with four terms: x2−2x+2x−4.
Simplify the expression by adding the middle terms, and we get just x2−4.

This is a special kind of binomial (a binomial is an expression with two terms) called a difference of squares. Since (x+2)&(x−2) are the same except for the sign in between, the answer is just the first term squared (x2) minus the second term squared
-(22)=−4.
Here's more about difference of squares: https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/difference-of-squares.html

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