You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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The numerator of this fraction is the difference of two squares. Therefore, it factors into
the product of the sum and the difference of the square root of both terms. Sounds tough
but all it says is that:
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Now you need to factor the denominator of the problem. Because this is a "set up practice"
problem you can presume that it will factor and that either (a-3) or (a+3) is likely to
be one of the factors.
. needs to be factored. The first term in each of the factors will be "a" and
the second term will have to be factors of 6 ... 6 and 1 or 3 and 2. 3 and 2 look good
because they add up to be 5 and (+3)*(+2) = +6.
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So the factors of are
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You can verify this by multiplying (a+3)*(a+2) and look at the result.
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Substituting the factors back into the original fraction result in:
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Cancel the (a+3) terms that are common in the numerator and denominator:
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and the final answer is:
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Hope this helps you see the value of using factors to simplify problems such as these.
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