Sum and Difference of Cubes

Question

Factor completely using the formula for sum or difference of cubes.

4w^3−8644 =

Answer 1

4w³ - 864 = 4(w³ - 216) = 4(w³ - 6³) = 4(w - 6)(w² + 6w + 36)

Answer 2

4w³ − 8644 = 4(w³ − 2161)

a³ – b³ = (a – b)(a² + ab + b²)

Applying this factoring the expression above

a³ = w³ and b³ = 2161

but 2161 is not a perfect cube, so the b and b² terms in the factored expression will not be simple integers.