Factor 16a^2-4b^2

$16 a^{2} - 4 b^{2}$

Step 1

Factor $4$ out of $16 a^{2} - 4 b^{2}$ .

Factor $4$ out of $16 a^{2}$ .

$4 (4 a^{2}) - 4 b^{2}$

Factor $4$ out of $- 4 b^{2}$ .

$4 (4 a^{2}) + 4 (- b^{2})$

Factor $4$ out of $4 (4 a^{2}) + 4 (- b^{2})$ .

$4 (4 a^{2} - b^{2})$

Step 2

Rewrite $4 a^{2}$ as ${(2 a)}^{2}$ .

$4 ({(2 a)}^{2} - b^{2})$

Step 3

Factor.

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = 2 a$ and $b = b$ .

$4 ((2 a + b) (2 a - b))$

Remove unnecessary parentheses.

$4 (2 a + b) (2 a - b)$