Question

simplify 4x^8/16x^2

Answer 1

When you divide these rational expressions, you divide them like "normal", meaning that the 4 will cancel out and in the denominator you will have a 4 left of the 16 (16/4 = 4). When you divide the exponents, the rule is that you subtract the denominator's exponent degree from the numerator's exponent degree. x^8 - x^2 = x^6 and that is in the numerator because the numerator had the bigger degree of the two. So the answer is \[\frac{ x ^{6} }{ 4 }\] Get it?