Factor w^2-16

$w^{2} - 16$

Step 1

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

$w^{2} - 4^{2}$

Step 2

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

$(w + 4) (w - 4)$