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Question 316309: Simplify :
y+2 over -y - 2 or y+2 divided by -y - 2
a)1
b)2
c)-1
d)-2
Found 3 solutions by jim_thompson5910, moshiz08, nyc_function:
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256)   (Show Source):
Answer by moshiz08(60)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let's look at the denominator  . Since both terms are negative, we can factor out a -1 and rewrite this as  . You can check this using the distributive property.
Now our fraction looks like this:
 .
We can cancel the (y+2) factor in the numerator and denominator and we are left with
 , so we get C.
By the way, the solution given by nycfunction is incorrect
First, the factoring is done wrong, as -1(y+2) = -y -2 is the correct way to do it following the distributive property. -1(y-2) = -y + 2, (not the +2 which resulted from -1 times -2), which is not what the question was asking for.
Second, the cancellation is wrong. If you have  , you can't just cancel the x and say this equals  which is 3. To see why this is wrong, consider the case when x = 1. Then we should get  , NOT 3. Clearly, you can't cancel a part of a factor.
Answer by nyc_function(2741)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Do you mean (y + 2)/(-y - 2)?
If so, then factor our -1.
-1[(y + 2)/(y - 2)] =
Both y letters cancel out leaving us with -1(2/-2).
Then -1(2/-2) = -1(-1) = 1.
Choice (a) is the answer.
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