Chapter 6 FaCtoring and the distributive ProPerty 167EXAMPLES
Factor the numerator and denominator and then write the fraction in
lowest terms.
x
xxx
x(^21) x x
1
11
1
1
1
− 1
- = +−
()()= − =−
yx
xy
yx
xyxy
xy
xyxy xy
−
−
= −
−+
= −−
−+
= −
(^22) +
1
()()
()
()()
xx
xx
xx
xx
x
x
2
2
56
23
32
31
2
1
−+
−−
= −−
−+
= −
()()
()()
336
612
32
62
(^3231)
32
2
2
xxx
xx
xx x
xx
−− xx x
−
= −−
−
()= +
()
()( −−
−
(^2) = +
62
1
(^22)
)
xx()
x
x
xx
xx
xx
xx
x
x
2
2
10 25
65
55
51
5
1
++
++
= ++
++
= +
()()
()()
PRACTICE
Factor the numerator and denominator and then write the fraction in
lowest terms. You may leave the numerator and denominator factored.
1.^1624
812
32
43xx
xx−
−=- xx
xx
2
228
712+−
++=- xx
xx
2
276
45−+
+−=4.^2512
26
2
2xx
xx−−
−−=5.^372
61
2
2xx
xx−+
+−=6.^264
3336
32
32xxx
xxx++
+−=7.^42840
6636
32
32 22 2xy xy xy
xy xy xy++
−−=- x
x
−
−(^4) =
16 2
EXAMPLES
Factor the numerator and denominator and then write the fraction in
PRACTICE
Factor the numerator and denominator and then write the fraction in