SOLUTION: Is the following trinomial a perfect square: x^2 + 4x - 4 I thought trinomials were written in sqrt form, is this not true?? Thank you

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Question 70423: Is the following trinomial a perfect square:
x^2 + 4x - 4
I thought trinomials were written in sqrt form, is this not true?? Thank you
Answer by 303795(602) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If this is a perfect square then it can be written as some term all squared.
x%5E2+%2B+4x+-+4 can't be written in this form as you will need to square the last part of the term and it must end up with a negative number at the end.
However x%5E2+-+4x+%2B+4 on the other hand could be written as %28x-2%29%5E2 and x%5E2+%2B+4x+%2B+4 could be written as %28x%2B2%29%5E2.
These last two would therefore be perfect squares.