Question

How would you factor the polynomial expression x4+x2-20

Answer 1

We have the following:

`x^4+x^2-20`

factoring:

`\begin{gathered} x^4+x^2-20 \\ u=x^2 \\ u^2+u-20=(u+5)(u-4) \\ (x^2+5)(x^2-4)=(x^2+5)(x+2)(x-2) \end{gathered}`

The anwer is:

`(x^2+5)(x+2)(x-2)`