Identify Form of Expression: Identify the form of the expression.The given expression is c2−16. This is a difference of squares because it can be written as c2−42, where c is any real number and 4 is a constant.
Apply Difference of Squares Formula: Apply the difference of squares formula.The difference of squares formula is a2−b2=(a−b)(a+b). Here, a=c and b=4.So, c2−16=c2−42=(c−4)(c+4).
Check Factored Form: Check the factored form.To ensure there are no math errors, we can expand (c−4)(c+4) to check if it equals the original expression.(c−4)(c+4)=c2+4c−4c−16=c2−16.The expanded form matches the original expression, so the factoring is correct.