Factor u^2-16

$u^{2} - 16$

Step 1

Rewrite $16$ as $4^{2}$ .

$u^{2} - 4^{2}$

Step 2

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = u$ and $b = 4$ .

$(u + 4) (u - 4)$