Algebra Examples

$\frac{p^{2} - p - 2}{2 p^{2} + 3 p + 1} \div \frac{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}$

Step 1

To divide by a fraction, multiply by its reciprocal.

$\frac{p^{2} - p - 2}{2 p^{2} + 3 p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 2

Factor $p^{2} - p - 2$ using the AC method.

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Step 2.1

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $- 2$ and whose sum is $- 1$ .

$- 2, 1$

Step 2.2

Write the factored form using these integers.

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{2 p^{2} + 3 p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3

Factor by grouping.

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Step 3.1

For a polynomial of the form $a x^{2} + b x + c$ , rewrite the middle term as a sum of two terms whose product is $a \cdot c = 2 \cdot 1 = 2$ and whose sum is $b = 3$ .

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Step 3.1.1

Factor $3$ out of $3 p$ .

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{2 p^{2} + 3 (p) + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3.1.2

Rewrite $3$ as $1$ plus $2$

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{2 p^{2} + (1 + 2) p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3.1.3

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{2 p^{2} + 1 p + 2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3.1.4

Multiply $p$ by $1$ .

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{2 p^{2} + p + 2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3.2

Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.

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Step 3.2.1

Group the first two terms and the last two terms.

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{(2 p^{2} + p) + 2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3.2.2

Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{p (2 p + 1) + 1 (2 p + 1)} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 3.3

Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, $2 p + 1$ .

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{(2 p + 1) (p + 1)} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 4

Cancel the common factor of $p + 1$ .

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Step 4.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(p - 2) (p + 1)}{(2 p + 1) (p + 1)} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 4.2

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{p - 2}{2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{p^{2} + 7 p - 8}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 5

Factor $p^{2} + 7 p - 8$ using the AC method.

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Step 5.1

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $- 8$ and whose sum is $7$ .

$- 1, 8$

Step 5.2

Write the factored form using these integers.

$\frac{p - 2}{2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{p^{2} - 3 p + 2}$

Step 6

Factor $p^{2} - 3 p + 2$ using the AC method.

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Step 6.1

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $2$ and whose sum is $- 3$ .

$- 2, - 1$

Step 6.2

Write the factored form using these integers.

$\frac{p - 2}{2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{(p - 2) (p - 1)}$

Step 7

Cancel the common factor of $p - 2$ .

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Step 7.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{p - 2}{2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{(p - 2) (p - 1)}$

Step 7.2

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1}{2 p + 1} \cdot \frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{p - 1}$

Step 8

Multiply $\frac{1}{2 p + 1}$ by $\frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{p - 1}$ .

$\frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{(2 p + 1) (p - 1)}$

Step 9

Cancel the common factor of $p - 1$ .

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Step 9.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(p - 1) (p + 8)}{(2 p + 1) (p - 1)}$

Step 9.2

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{p + 8}{2 p + 1}$