Algebra Examples

\frac{2 x^{2} - 9 x + 2}{x^{2} - 4}

$\frac{2 x^{2} - 9 x + 2}{x^{2} - 4}$

Step 1

Rewrite

4

$4$ as

2^{2}

$2^{2}$ .

\frac{2 x^{2} - 9 x + 2}{x^{2} - 2^{2}}

$\frac{2 x^{2} - 9 x + 2}{x^{2} - 2^{2}}$

Step 2

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula,

a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)

$a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where

a = x

$a = x$ and

b = 2

$b = 2$ .

\frac{2 x^{2} - 9 x + 2}{(x + 2) (x - 2)}

$\frac{2 x^{2} - 9 x + 2}{(x + 2) (x - 2)}$