Advanced Algebra, factor and simplify

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around factoring and simplifying an algebraic expression involving negative exponents. The original poster presents the expression (-5/2)(x)(x+3)^(-3/2) + (5)(x+3)^(-1/2) and seeks assistance in expressing the answer as a fraction without negative exponents.

Discussion Character

  • Mathematical reasoning, Problem interpretation, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore various methods to combine fractions and attain a common denominator. There are attempts to rewrite the expression using square roots and to simplify the resulting fractions. Some participants express uncertainty about handling negative exponents and common denominators.

Discussion Status

Several participants have contributed attempts at simplifying the expression, with some providing partial steps and others questioning the correctness of their approaches. There is a mix of interpretations regarding the steps needed to achieve a common denominator and simplify the expression further.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention the challenge of negative exponents and the requirement to express the final answer without them. There is also a reference to the difficulty of the course, with a statistic about student pass rates.

pooker
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I am having problems understanding this. Could someone explain how to arrive at the answer for this problem . (-5/2)(x)(x+3)^(-3/2) + (5)(x+3)^(-1/2) Thank you

It says to factor and simplify. Express the answer as a fraction without negative exponents.This is where I get to (-5x/2)(1/cubed root of (x+3)^3) + 5 / (cubed root of x+3 )

edit here is more i got

-5x/2(x+3)^2) + 5/(x+3)

get common denominator times the second by x+3 then by 2

so

-5x/2(x+3)^2 + 10x + 30 / 2(x+3)^2

I assume I have to get a common denominator but I am unsure of how to do that with negative fraction exponents that are not already equal.
 
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(-5/2)(x)(x+3)^(-3/2) + (5)(x+3)^(-1/2)

[tex]\frac{-5x}{2\sqrt{(x+3)^3}}+\frac{5}{\sqrt{x+3}}[/tex]

[tex]\frac{-5x}{2(x+3)\sqrt{x+3}}+\frac{5}{\sqrt{x+3}}[/tex]

[tex]\frac{-5x+5*2(x+3)}{2(x+3)\sqrt{x+3}}[/tex]

Do you feel comfortable to continue now?
 
let me try now


attain common denominator


so multiply other side by 2(x+3)


so we get

-5x/2(x+3)(square root x+3) + 10(x+3)/2(x+3)(square root x+3)

simplify

10x+30

since they are know common denominators do the addition

5x + 30 / 2x+6(square root x+3)

Is this correct or am I wrong ?
 
pooker said:
let me try now


attain common denominator


so multiply other side by 2(x+3)


so we get

-5x/2(x+3)(square root x+3) + 10(x+3)/2(x+3)(square root x+3)

simplify

10x+30

since they are know common denominators do the addition

5x + 30 / 2x+6(square root x+3)

Is this correct or am I wrong ?

You're right. Also, it is even better when you rationalize (multiply the whole equation with sqrt(x+3)/sqrt(x+3)) so that you eliminate the square root in the denominator.

Regards.
 
thank you very much aaron you really helped me out with future problems. Our teacher said only 25% of students pass this class out of 24. Here is my next one I tried to work
((-4/x+h) + (-4/x) ) / h

I remember something called ltw, where if you had addition in the denominator you multipled each side by the others denominator.

So we would get

-4x/(x^2 + h) + 4x + h / x^2 + h

of course all divided by h

now that the top has a common denominator we simplay add the two together leaving us

h / x^2 + h the H should cancel out leaving

1/ x^2

now for the remainder the total problem is now

(1/x^2) / h we can reverse the bottom and multiply fractions so

1/(x^2) * 1/h we get 1/ (x^2H) is this correct Aaron?

btw you are really smart. :)
 
When you multiply the denominator x + h by x how do you end up with x^2 + h?
 
((-4/x+h) + (-4/x) ) / h

[tex]\frac{\frac{-4x}{x(x+h)}+\frac{-4(x+h)}{x(x+h)}}{h}[/tex]

[tex]\frac{-4x-4x-4h}{xh(x+h)}[/tex]

The final result:

[tex]-\frac{4(2x+h)}{xh(x+h)}[/tex]
 

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