Question

what is 5a-b - 4a-2b in simplest form
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a^2-b^2 a^2-b^2

Answer 1

hi :) so what happens is we look at the denominator. They are the same, which is a great sign. So, we simplify the top:

5a - b - (4a - 2b) = a - b + 2b
= a + b

Take note that - (4a - 2b) is actually -4a + 2b!

Then, we notice that the denominator can be simplified into the form (a+b)(a-b).

Which is a great thing, since we can then cancel them out. And so, we are left with 1 over (a-b).

In other words,

1
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a-b


have a nice day! :)