How do you divide (16z x ^ { 3} - 20z ^ { 4} x ^ { 7} ) \div ( 4z ^ { 2} x ^ { 5} )?
1 Answer
Aug 30, 2017
Explanation:
Since the numerator has a term being subtracted from another, we cannot cancel yet. First, we can factor the numerator. The GCF is
(4zx^3(4 - 5z^3x^4))/(4z^2x^5)
We can now cancel
(cancel4cancelzcancel(x^3)(4 - 5z^3x^4))/(cancel4 cancel(z^2)^z cancel(x^5)^(x^2))
We are left with
(4 - 5z^3x^4)/(zx^2)
We can now split this into
(4)/(zx^2) - (5z^3x^4)/(zx^2)
Canceling, we get
(4)/(zx^2) - (5cancel(z^3)^(z^2) cancel(x^4)^(x^2))/(cancelz cancel(x^2))
= (4)/(zx^2) - 5z^2x^2