Factor x^2y^2-4

$x^{2} y^{2} - 4$

Step 1

Rewrite $x^{2} y^{2}$ as ${(x y)}^{2}$ .

${(x y)}^{2} - 4$

Step 2

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

${(x y)}^{2} - 2^{2}$

Step 3

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

$(x y + 2) (x y - 2)$