document.write( "Question 469825: If (ab)/(b - a) = 1 and a does NOT equal b, what is a in terms of b?\r
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document.write( "A) (b + 1)/b
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document.write( "B) b/(b + 1)
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document.write( "C) (b+1)/(b-1)
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document.write( "D) 1 - (1/b)
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document.write( "E) b/(b-1) \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #322293 by bucky(2189)![]() ![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! What this problem is asking you to do is to solve for a. \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "Do you recognize why the problem says that a is NOT equal to b? It's because if a = b then the denominator of (b - a) would be equal to zero, and as you know, division by zero is not permitted in algebra. \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "So the problem you were given is: \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "First get rid of the denominator (b - a) by multiplying both sides of the equation by (b - a) to get: \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "Next add +a to both sides to get rid of the -a on the right side. When you do, the equation becomes: \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "Factor the left side by removing a from both terms to get: \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "Solve for a by dividing both sides by (b+1) and you have: \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "Notice that this is answer B in your list of possible answers. \n" ); document.write( ". \n" ); document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand the problem. \n" ); document.write( " |