Question

Factor:

(x+y)^4 - 1

Answer 1

make use of the factoring for the difference between two squares, i.e.:\[a^2-b^2=(a+b)(a-b)\]

Answer 2

write it like this: ((x+y)^2)^2-1^2 so you'll get ((x+y)^2-1)((x+y)^2+1)=(x+y-1)(x+y+1)((x+y)^2+1)...do you understand this?