Question

how many factors are in x8 – 26x4 + 169

Answer 1

any attempts to factor it? since the first coefficient is 1 we can choose two numbers that add up to -26 and multiply to get 169

and re-write in the form (x^4+___)(x^4+___) where the numbers from the previous step go into the blanks, then we can see if that simplifies any further