Factorizing $88^2-12^2$

Question

I tried finding the square root of both sides but it is in decimal and i got the answer $2(44-6)$ but my books' answering scheme says it is $7600$ please help me!

Answer 1

Hint: $88^2 - 12^2 = (88+12)(88-12)$

Answer 2

Using the fact that $$(a + b)(a - b) = a^2 - b^2$$ you can rewrite the expression as $$88^2 - 12^2 = (88 + 12)(88 - 12) = \dots$$

I'm sure you can take it from here.