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Divide. Enter your answer as a single completely simplified rational expression with nonnegative exponents. \[ \frac{5 x^{2}}{x^{2}-15 x} \div \frac{15 x^{2}+15 x}{x^{2}-4 x-5} \]

Ask by Williams Wyatt. in the United States
Jan 20,2025

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Tutor-Verified Answer

Answer

\[ \frac{x - 5}{3(x - 15)} \]

Solution

To simplify the given expression: \[ \frac{5x^2}{x^2 - 15x} \div \frac{15x^2 + 15x}{x^2 - 4x - 5} \] We can follow these steps: 1. **Rewrite the Division as Multiplication:** \[ \frac{5x^2}{x^2 - 15x} \times \frac{x^2 - 4x - 5}{15x^2 + 15x} \] 2. **Factor Each Polynomial:** - \( x^2 - 15x = x(x - 15) \) - \( 15x^2 + 15x = 15x(x + 1) \) - \( x^2 - 4x - 5 = (x - 5)(x + 1) \) 3. **Substitute the Factored Forms:** \[ \frac{5x^2}{x(x - 15)} \times \frac{(x - 5)(x + 1)}{15x(x + 1)} \] 4. **Simplify the Expression:** - **Cancel Common Factors:** - \( x^2 \) in the numerator cancels with \( x^2 \) in the denominator. - The \( (x + 1) \) terms cancel out. - \( 5 \) in the numerator cancels with \( 15 \) in the denominator, leaving a \( 3 \) in the denominator. - The simplified expression becomes: \[ \frac{x - 5}{3(x - 15)} \] **Final Answer:** \[ \boxed{\dfrac{x-5}{3(x-15)}} \]

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To simplify the expression \(\frac{5 x^{2}}{x^{2}-15 x} \div \frac{15 x^{2}+15 x}{x^{2}-4 x-5}\), we start by rewriting the division as multiplication by the reciprocal: \[ \frac{5 x^{2}}{x^{2}-15 x} \cdot \frac{x^{2}-4 x-5}{15 x^{2}+15 x} \] Now we factor each part: 1. **For \(x^{2}-15x\)**, we factor out \(x\): \[ x^{2}-15x = x(x-15) \] 2. **For \(x^{2}-4x-5\)**, we find the factors: \[ x^{2}-4x-5 = (x-5)(x+1) \] 3. **For \(15x^{2}+15x\)**, we can factor out \(15x\): \[ 15x^{2}+15x = 15x(x+1) \] Putting these together in our expression, we get: \[ \frac{5x^{2}}{x(x-15)} \cdot \frac{(x-5)(x+1)}{15x(x+1)} \] Next, we multiply the fractions: \[ \frac{5x^{2} \cdot (x-5)(x+1)}{x(x-15) \cdot 15x(x+1)} \] Now we can cancel out common factors. Notice that \(x\) in the numerator and denominator cancels out, as does \(x+1\): \[ \frac{5(x-5)}{15(x-15)} \] Next, we simplify the coefficients: \[ \frac{5}{15} = \frac{1}{3} \] Thus, the expression simplifies to: \[ \frac{x-5}{3(x-15)} \] To summarize the final answer, the completely simplified rational expression with nonnegative exponents is: \[ \frac{x-5}{3(x-15)} \]

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