Bradford T. answered 09/16/21
Tutor
4.9
(29)
Retired Engineer / Upper level math instructor
If you are needing to factor this to solve for p:
p4-13p2+40 = (p2-5)(p2-8)
p = ±√5, ±2√2
You could do this in more steps by letting x = p2 and factoring and then setting x back to p2.