PERT Practice Test 2026 – Comprehensive Study Guide for Postsecondary Education Readiness Success!

To find the completely factored form of the expression 4x^2 - 16, one approach is to first identify that this expression is a difference of squares. The expression can be rewritten as:

4(x^2 - 4)

The term x^2 - 4 is itself a difference of squares, which can be factored further as:

x^2 - 4 = (x - 2)(x + 2)

Now, substituting back into the factored form of the original expression gives us:

4(x - 2)(x + 2)

This shows that the completely factored form of the expression 4x^2 - 16 is indeed 4(x - 2)(x + 2). This confirms that the correct answer highlights the process of breaking down the factors correctly and demonstrates the use of the difference of squares technique.

The other choices either include incorrect factors or do not represent the correct breakdown of the original expression. For example, while some options might involve factoring out a common factor or using different approaches, they do not lead to the simplest form which is clearly represented by the identified correct answer.