Question

How do you simplify `(-15x^4)/( 3x)`?

Answer 1

The answer is `-5x^3`.

Explanation:

To simplify `(-15x^4)/(3x)`, we must divide `-15x^4` by `3x`. -15 divided by 3 is simple; the answer is -5. I think you might have been strung up on dividing `x^4` by `x`. Here is a Quotient property that will help us out: `(a^n)/(a^m) = a^(n-m)`. Using this, we can figure out that `x^4` divided by `x` is `x^3` since `x^(4-1) = x^3`. In conclusion, the answer is `-5x^3`.