Please Help With Problem

Question

P^4 - 13p^2 + 40

Answer 1

p⁴ - 13p² + 40 = p⁴ - 5p² - 8p² + 40 = p²(p² - 5) - 8(p² - 5) = (p² - 8)(p² - 5)

Answer 2

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.