What is the completely factored form of the following expression? $$ 3a^4-48b^8 $$

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First, factor out the greatest common factor.

$$ 3a^4-48b^8$$ $$ 3(a^4-16b^8) $$

Factor using difference of squares.

$$ 3(a^2-4b^4)(a^2+4b^4) $$

Repeat.

$$ 3(a-2b)(a+2b)(a^2+4b^4) $$

You may be tempted to expand the answer choices or trying random numbers for \(a\) and \(b\) as mentioned in the previous question.

For this question, these strategies don't work because several answer choices are equivalent to the initial expression, just not completely factored.