Determine whether the following is a trinomial square.
-$$x ^ { 2 } - 16 x + 256$$

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The expression $x^2 - 16x + 256$ is not a trinomial square because the middle term does not satisfy the condition for a perfect square trinomial, which is $2ab$ where $a$ and $b$ are the square roots of the first and last terms, respectively. Here, $b$ should be 8, but $2 \times x \times 8 = 16x$, which matches, but the last term should be $8^2 = 64$, not 256.

Determine Whether the Following Is a Trinomial Square x2−16x+256x ^ { 2 } - 16 x + 256x2−16x+256

Determine Whether the Following Is a Trinomial Square $x ^ { 2 } - 16 x + 256$