Write the  as  so everything
will be a fraction.



Then put parentheses around the top and the bottom:



The four denominators are 1, x, 4, and 8

The LCD of those is 8x, so multiply by the
fraction  but write it as


So now we have

·

Now remove the parentheses by distributing on the 
top and bottom:



Cancel what will cancel and you have:



Now factor 16 out of the top and x out of the bottom:



Cancel the 's and all that's left is



Edwin