Answer:
To express the polynomial \(1.44 - a^2\) as the product of a difference and a sum, we can use the difference of squares formula:
\[ a^2 - b^2 = (a + b)(a - b) \]
In this case, \(1.44\) can be considered as \(a^2\) where \(a = \sqrt{1.44}\) or \(a = 1.2\).
So, we can rewrite \(1.44 - a^2\) as:
\[ 1.44 - a^2 = (a + \sqrt{1.44})(a - \sqrt{1.44}) \]
\[ 1.44 - a^2 = (a + 1.2)(a - 1.2) \]
Therefore, \(1.44 - a^2\) can be expressed as the product of a difference and a sum:
\[ (a + 1.2)(a - 1.2) \]