First of all I expanded the brackets as follows: (1+x+y)(1+x+y) = 1+2x+2y+x^2+y^2+2xy (1-x-y)(1-x-y) = 1-2x-2y+x^2+y^2+2xy subtracting these two gives: 4x+4y = 4(x+y) Therfore whatever integer value is chosen for x and y the answer will always be a multiple of 4.