Precalculus Examples

Split Using Partial Fraction Decomposition (3x^2+7x-10)/(x^3+2x^2-4x-8)
Step 1
Decompose the fraction and multiply through by the common denominator.
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Step 1.1
Factor the fraction.
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Step 1.1.1
Factor by grouping.
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Step 1.1.1.1
For a polynomial of the form , rewrite the middle term as a sum of two terms whose product is and whose sum is .
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Step 1.1.1.1.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.1.1.1.2
Rewrite as plus
Step 1.1.1.1.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.1.2
Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.
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Step 1.1.1.2.1
Group the first two terms and the last two terms.
Step 1.1.1.2.2
Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.
Step 1.1.1.3
Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, .
Step 1.1.2
Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.
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Step 1.1.2.1
Group the first two terms and the last two terms.
Step 1.1.2.2
Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.
Step 1.1.3
Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, .
Step 1.1.4
Rewrite as .
Step 1.1.5
Factor.
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Step 1.1.5.1
Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, where and .
Step 1.1.5.2
Remove unnecessary parentheses.
Step 1.1.6
Combine exponents.
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Step 1.1.6.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.1.6.2
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.1.6.3
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.1.6.4
Add and .
Step 1.2
For each factor in the denominator, create a new fraction using the factor as the denominator, and an unknown value as the numerator. Since the factor in the denominator is linear, put a single variable in its place .
Step 1.3
For each factor in the denominator, create a new fraction using the factor as the denominator, and an unknown value as the numerator. Since the factor in the denominator is linear, put a single variable in its place .
Step 1.4
For each factor in the denominator, create a new fraction using the factor as the denominator, and an unknown value as the numerator. Since the factor in the denominator is linear, put a single variable in its place .
Step 1.5
Multiply each fraction in the equation by the denominator of the original expression. In this case, the denominator is .
Step 1.6
Reduce the expression by cancelling the common factors.
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Step 1.6.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 1.6.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.6.1.2
Rewrite the expression.
Step 1.6.2
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 1.6.2.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.6.2.2
Divide by .
Step 1.7
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 1.7.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.7.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.7.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.8
Simplify and combine like terms.
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Step 1.8.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.8.1.1
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 1.8.1.2
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.8.1.2.1
Move .
Step 1.8.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.8.1.3
Move to the left of .
Step 1.8.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 1.8.1.5
Multiply by .
Step 1.8.2
Subtract from .
Step 1.9
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.9.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 1.9.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.9.1.2
Divide by .
Step 1.9.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.3
Move to the left of .
Step 1.9.4
Cancel the common factor of and .
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Step 1.9.4.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.9.4.2
Cancel the common factors.
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Step 1.9.4.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 1.9.4.2.2
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.9.4.2.3
Rewrite the expression.
Step 1.9.4.2.4
Divide by .
Step 1.9.5
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.6
Move to the left of .
Step 1.9.7
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 1.9.7.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.7.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.7.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.8
Combine the opposite terms in .
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Step 1.9.8.1
Reorder the factors in the terms and .
Step 1.9.8.2
Add and .
Step 1.9.8.3
Add and .
Step 1.9.9
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.9.9.1
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.9.9.1.1
Move .
Step 1.9.9.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.9.9.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.9.10
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 1.9.10.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.9.10.2
Divide by .
Step 1.9.11
Rewrite as .
Step 1.9.12
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 1.9.12.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.12.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.12.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.13
Simplify and combine like terms.
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Step 1.9.13.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.9.13.1.1
Multiply by .
Step 1.9.13.1.2
Move to the left of .
Step 1.9.13.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 1.9.13.2
Add and .
Step 1.9.14
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.9.15
Simplify.
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Step 1.9.15.1
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 1.9.15.2
Move to the left of .
Step 1.10
Simplify the expression.
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Step 1.10.1
Move .
Step 1.10.2
Move .
Step 1.10.3
Move .
Step 2
Create equations for the partial fraction variables and use them to set up a system of equations.
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Step 2.1
Create an equation for the partial fraction variables by equating the coefficients of from each side of the equation. For the equation to be equal, the equivalent coefficients on each side of the equation must be equal.
Step 2.2
Create an equation for the partial fraction variables by equating the coefficients of from each side of the equation. For the equation to be equal, the equivalent coefficients on each side of the equation must be equal.
Step 2.3
Create an equation for the partial fraction variables by equating the coefficients of the terms not containing . For the equation to be equal, the equivalent coefficients on each side of the equation must be equal.
Step 2.4
Set up the system of equations to find the coefficients of the partial fractions.
Step 3
Solve the system of equations.
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Step 3.1
Solve for in .
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Step 3.1.1
Rewrite the equation as .
Step 3.1.2
Subtract from both sides of the equation.
Step 3.2
Replace all occurrences of with in each equation.
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Step 3.2.1
Replace all occurrences of in with .
Step 3.2.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 3.2.2.1
Simplify .
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Step 3.2.2.1.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 3.2.2.1.1.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 3.2.2.1.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 3.2.2.1.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 3.2.2.1.2
Add and .
Step 3.3
Reorder and .
Step 3.4
Solve for in .
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Step 3.4.1
Rewrite the equation as .
Step 3.4.2
Subtract from both sides of the equation.
Step 3.5
Replace all occurrences of with in each equation.
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Step 3.5.1
Replace all occurrences of in with .
Step 3.5.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 3.5.2.1
Simplify .
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Step 3.5.2.1.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 3.5.2.1.1.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 3.5.2.1.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 3.5.2.1.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 3.5.2.1.2
Simplify by adding terms.
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Step 3.5.2.1.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 3.5.2.1.2.2
Add and .
Step 3.6
Solve for in .
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Step 3.6.1
Rewrite the equation as .
Step 3.6.2
Move all terms not containing to the right side of the equation.
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Step 3.6.2.1
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 3.6.2.2
Add and .
Step 3.6.3
Divide each term in by and simplify.
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Step 3.6.3.1
Divide each term in by .
Step 3.6.3.2
Simplify the left side.
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Step 3.6.3.2.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 3.6.3.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 3.6.3.2.1.2
Divide by .
Step 3.6.3.3
Simplify the right side.
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Step 3.6.3.3.1
Divide by .
Step 3.7
Replace all occurrences of with in each equation.
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Step 3.7.1
Replace all occurrences of in with .
Step 3.7.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 3.7.2.1
Simplify .
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Step 3.7.2.1.1
Multiply by .
Step 3.7.2.1.2
Subtract from .
Step 3.7.3
Replace all occurrences of in with .
Step 3.7.4
Simplify the right side.
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Step 3.7.4.1
Simplify .
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Step 3.7.4.1.1
Multiply by .
Step 3.7.4.1.2
Add and .
Step 3.8
List all of the solutions.
Step 4
Replace each of the partial fraction coefficients in with the values found for , , and .