Factor (-x^4+25x^2)

$(- x^{4} + 25 x^{2})$

Step 1

Remove parentheses.

$- x^{4} + 25 x^{2}$

Step 2

Factor $- x^{2}$ out of $- x^{4} + 25 x^{2}$ .

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

$- x^{2} (x^{2}) + 25 x^{2}$

Factor $- x^{2}$ out of $25 x^{2}$ .

$- x^{2} (x^{2}) - x^{2} (- 25)$

Factor $- x^{2}$ out of $- x^{2} (x^{2}) - x^{2} (- 25)$ .

$- x^{2} (x^{2} - 25)$

Step 3

Rewrite $25$ as $5^{2}$ .

$- x^{2} (x^{2} - 5^{2})$

Step 4

Factor.

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = x$ and $b = 5$ .

$- x^{2} ((x + 5) (x - 5))$

Remove unnecessary parentheses.

$- x^{2} (x + 5) (x - 5)$