Problem with factoring

[Galasriniel10]

Factor completely

100r^2-(3y+1)^2

 

[tkhunny]

You seem to be struggling with generalization.

Can you factor this? x^2 - y^2?

 

[Galasriniel10]

What do you mean? are you asking whether the problem can be factored or not?

 

[mmm4444bot]

It appears, to me, that tkhunny is asking you whether or not you know the special factorization pattern for a difference of squares:

x^2 - y^2 = (x + y) (x - y)

The expression in your posted exercise is also a difference of squares, so it follows the same factorization pattern.