Perform the indicated operation. Simplify if possible.

The difference is .

To perform the operation , we can combine the two fractions since they have a common denominator:

Next, simplify the numerator:

Now, we can write the combined expression as:

To simplify further, we can try factoring the numerator. We look for two numbers that multiply to and add to . The numbers and fit, thus we factor:

Now substitute back into the fraction:

Since in the numerator and denominator cancels out (as long as ):

So, the difference is .