Solve by Factoring x^4-4x^2-12=0

$x^{4} - 4 x^{2} - 12 = 0$

Step 1

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

${(x^{2})}^{2} - 4 x^{2} - 12 = 0$

Step 2

Let $u = x^{2}$ . Substitute $u$ for all occurrences of $x^{2}$ .

$u^{2} - 4 u - 12 = 0$

Step 3

Factor $u^{2} - 4 u - 12$ using the AC method.

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $- 12$ and whose sum is $- 4$ .

$- 6, 2$

Write the factored form using these integers.

$(u - 6) (u + 2) = 0$

Step 4

Replace all occurrences of $u$ with $x^{2}$ .

$(x^{2} - 6) (x^{2} + 2) = 0$

Step 5

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$x^{2} - 6 = 0$

$x^{2} + 2 = 0$

Step 6

Set $x^{2} - 6$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

Set $x^{2} - 6$ equal to $0$ .

$x^{2} - 6 = 0$

Solve $x^{2} - 6 = 0$ for $x$ .

Add $6$ to both sides of the equation.

$x^{2} = 6$

Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.

$x = \pm \sqrt{6}$

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

First, use the positive value of the $\pm$ to find the first solution.

$x = \sqrt{6}$

Next, use the negative value of the $\pm$ to find the second solution.

$x = - \sqrt{6}$

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

$x = \sqrt{6}, - \sqrt{6}$

Step 7

Set $x^{2} + 2$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

Set $x^{2} + 2$ equal to $0$ .

$x^{2} + 2 = 0$

Solve $x^{2} + 2 = 0$ for $x$ .

Subtract $2$ from both sides of the equation.

$x^{2} = - 2$

Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.

$x = \pm \sqrt{- 2}$

Simplify $\pm \sqrt{- 2}$ .

Rewrite $- 2$ as $- 1 (2)$ .

$x = \pm \sqrt{- 1 (2)}$

Rewrite $\sqrt{- 1 (2)}$ as $\sqrt{- 1} \cdot \sqrt{2}$ .

$x = \pm \sqrt{- 1} \cdot \sqrt{2}$

Rewrite $\sqrt{- 1}$ as $i$ .

$x = \pm i \sqrt{2}$

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

First, use the positive value of the $\pm$ to find the first solution.

$x = i \sqrt{2}$

Next, use the negative value of the $\pm$ to find the second solution.

$x = - i \sqrt{2}$

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

$x = i \sqrt{2}, - i \sqrt{2}$

Step 8

The final solution is all the values that make $(x^{2} - 6) (x^{2} + 2) = 0$ true.

$x = \sqrt{6}, - \sqrt{6}, i \sqrt{2}, - i \sqrt{2}$

Solve by Factoring x^4-4x^2-12=0

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