SOLUTION: I am helping a student study for a final in Intermediate Algebra. The problem is from a worksheet and only says "Simplify". I cannot figure out how to simplify the numerator. I tri

Question 172562: I am helping a student study for a final in Intermediate Algebra. The problem is from a worksheet and only says "Simplify". I cannot figure out how to simplify the numerator. I tried factoring by grouping, but came up with nothing. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!
Here's the problem:

Found 2 solutions by Alan3354, Earlsdon:
Answer by Alan3354(69443) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

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No "simplification" is possible.
If you divide, you get with a remainder of -8.
However, if you change the last term to +4 instead of -4, it becomes

Maybe it's a typo.

Answer by Earlsdon(6294) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Simplify:

Well, no wonder you're having trouble...the numerator is not factorable, and if you divide the numerator by the denominator, you get:
and a remainder of so you can see that is not a factor of so I would have to conclude that the given fraction is already simplified.
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