How do you simplify (x^2-9)/(x^2-16)*(x^2-8x+16)/(x^2+6x+9)?
2 Answers
Factor and cancel out common factors to find:
with exclusion
Explanation:
Use difference of squares identity:
Use perfect square trinomial identity:
with exclusion
Explanation:
Ideas:
-
(x + y)^2 = x^2 + 2xy + y^2
Thus, in the numerator in the fraction on the right, puty=4 and in the denominator, puty=3 . -
x^2 - y^2 = (x + y) (x - y)
Again, like in the previous point, in the numerator in the fraction on the left, puty=3 and in the denominator, puty=4 . -
In the 3rd step, cancel out common terms, namely
(x-4) and(x+3) .